Fresh Start
by lydiamxrtin
Summary: After struggling to cope with the demons within him, 18-year-old Alec Lightwoods moves to New York to attend New York University and escape his past and make a fresh start. While navigating a new school and new relationships, Alec finds escaping his demons and old life is harder than he thought, will Alec be able to use his new relationships to help him or will his demons ultimatel
1. Chapter 1

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"September 2016/strong/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec's leg bounced up and down in the back of the cab, his fingers play nervously with the hem of his black sweater, he shifted in the uncomfortable leather seat, turning his head to face the steamy window. Small drops of water raced down the window, crashing into each other. He shifted again in his seat, moving his hands to rub his neck. Alec took in a large breath, holding it for a few seconds before letting it out, a relaxing technique Isabelle had taught him. Alec looked forward in the cab, trying to make out where he was, the driver; a older man, caught Alec's eye line in the mirror, Alec quickly looked away, turing to face the water droplets again. After a few seconds the cab came to a sudden stop, Alec reached into his faded black jeans, pulling out his wallet to pay the driver. Alec stood out of the car, stretching his limbs as he did, the long car ride coming back to haunt him. Making his way to the trunk of the car Alec grabbed his suitcase. Giving the driver a finale wave, he turned around to see his new living accommodation. Most of the morning had been spent registering and getting a mountain of leaflets about the University. Alec walked down the road towards the entrance. Surrounding him were parents and children saying goodbye, tearful hugs and kisses. Alec felt something in his chest, he tore his eyes away and looked to the floor walking into the building. Alec made his way to the lift and got in, closing the door before anyone else could enter. Once inside, Alec rested his head against the wall behind him. He sighed, closing his eyes. Today was a fresh start, he kept repeating it over and over again in his head, a chance to start a new. Alec wasn't sure if he was saying it remind himself or because he was still convincing himself. A part of Alec wished he had taken the stairs, the close intimate space of the lift causing Alec to feel anxious, his chest rising and failing quicker than usual. The elevator binged and the doors opened. Alec quickly opened his eyes and grabbed his bag, exciting the lift. He made his way down the hall, looking for his room number./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"112 - Nope/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec was hoping that by some miracle his new roommate had deiced to drop of of enrollments at the last minute allowing Alec to have the room to himself./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"114- Nope/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He knew it was a foolish wish, he had been dreading this part, having to share a room with someone else, a stranger. Someone he didn't know or trust. The last time he had shared a room was when he was a child, him and Izzy had shared a bedroom for a month while Izzy's room was getting redone. He didn't mind sharing with Izzy, but she was his sister and a lot had changed since then. Alec flinched involuntary, his hand balling into a fist. He reminded himself that this was a fresh start, meaning no reference to...it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"116 - Yes/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The door to the room was propped open by a small metal bin. Alec peaked his head into the room. The room appeared quite large, his farther spared no expenses on Alec education, more for his benefit than Alec's. On one side of the room was a double bed, covered in plain sheets. Next to the bed was a small desk, enough room for a laptop and some books. On the other side was a cupboard and some draws. On the other side was a semiotical layout. The only difference being a large black suitcase opened on the bed, clothes spread on the bed and in open draws, the once plain walls covered in pictures./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey!" A loud voice causes Alec to tare his eyes from the bed. Appearing from the rooms en suit was a boy, the same age as Alec. He had golden blond hair that was swept behind him, a few lose strands falling into his face. He was shorter than Alec; which Alec was use to by now, but the boy was still built, his short sleeved white shirt revealing his muscles. "You okay buddy?" The voice spoke up again, the boy walking forward towards Alec./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah, sorry" Alec muttered back his reply before turning around and grabbing his case, pulling them into the room. He made his way over the empty bed and pulled the half empty case on top of it. Alec hadn't brought much with him, a few clothes, some books but nothing else, he didn't want to bring much from home. He opened the case and started to take out his clothes deciding where he would put them./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I hope you don't mind but I kinda grabbed this side?" The blond boy spoke up again, Alec sighed, clearly this boy was trying to made conversation, Alec really wasn't in the mood for small talk./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No thats fine" Alec replied, giving a small shake of his head. He turned around and open the cupboard, hanging up a few shirts and jumpers. He opened the draw next to him and placed a few sweaters into the top draw, closing it again,/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm Jace by the way" The blond boy was moving over towards Alec, standing at the foot of his bed "Jace Wayland" He reached his hand out towards Alec, Alec took a breath and reached his hand out, lightly gripping the blond boys hand; whom he know knew was called Jace./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm Alec" He lightly shook Jace's hand, giving a small half smile "Alec-" He stopped mid sentence. The Lightwood name was a well known one in the Law Community, having your farther being one of the best Criminal Defences Attorney came with a price. People made pre-judgements. This was a fresh start. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec Alec?" Jace gave a small chuckle as he released Alec's hand, crossing his arms over his chest. Not in a aggressive or defences way that Alec has seen so much growing up./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No" Alec found himself giving a small laugh aswell "Just Alec" He was sure his last name would come out eventually, it always did but for now he would be Alec, not the son of Robert Lightwood/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well nice to meet you Alec" Jace gave a smile before turning around and walking towards his bed. Alec watched as the boy continued to unpack his clothes. It was odd. Most people gave up on Alec after a few words, his blunt manner to much for people to handle. Jace seemed different, like he wanted to be Alec's friend. span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec turned around to face his draw, he shock his head. He was getting ahead of himself, he had known Jace for all of four seconds, sure Jace might like him know but how would he feel if he knew the truth. Alec cursed himself, just the thought of it brought back memories Alec had spent the last year trying to push out of his head to no avail. Alec breathed in, holding it. This 'relaxing breathing technique' was utter shit. It never relaxed him but when he did it he thought of Izzy and that relaxed him./span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"strong style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Two Months Ago/span/strong/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Breath In and- no Alec you actually have to breath in I didn't spend four hours researching for nothing." Izzy sat crossed legged on Alec's bed, half opened boxes spread around the new room. Her face was scrunched up in annoyance./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Izzy" Alec gave a large sigh from the bathroom, splashing water onto his face. "I really don't think this is necessary-" Alec wiped his face with a small towel coming back out into the room moving a box as he passed./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hold it for-Alec?!" Izzy's raised her voice, throwing a small cushion from the bed in Alec's direction. Alec caught the pillow before walking over to the bed and sitting down beside Izzy, one leg hanging off the edge "Okay so hold it for 5…4…3…2…1… " As Izzy spoke, Alec closed his eyes, he knew this wasn't to work, he had his own methods to cope with the pain. "Okay then out again." Alec opened his eyes to see Izzy staring at him, her eyes filled with worry. "Its meant to clear your head and help you to relax"/span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec couldn't help but smile, the past year had been... the worse in Alec's life and but he was glad he had Izzy "Thanks Izzy" He reached out and squeezed her hand standing up to carry on unpacking his new room./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""There loads of other ways it says you can relax do you want me to print them off? Izzy /span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"clambered off Alec's bed walking over to her brother, love and concern in her eyes./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I'll be fine Izzy, really" Alec had his back facing Izzy, putting shirts into the cupboard./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You might need them when you leave-" A hint of betrayal in her voice, a twinge of guilt formed in Alec's stomach. /span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He turned around to have Izzy, giving her a soft smile "I'll be okay" Alec quickly turn around the hide the uncertainty in his face./span/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Alec?" Jace's voice pulled him from his memory, he turned around to see Jace hovering in the bathroom door a concerned look on his face, his brow furrowed./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""hm?" Alec must have been in his memory longer than he thought, Jace having already unpacked most of his things./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I said I'm going to grab a quick shower if thats okay?" Jace had a soft look on his face, a slight hint of concern. Alec quickly tore his eyes from Jace, not wanting the concern from this stranger. Alec gave a quick nod before turning around and counting to put clothes in the draw. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Okayyy" Jace gave a small chuckle before the sound of the bathroom door locking was the only sound in the room. Alec gave a large sigh, his head lolling backwards. He forgot how hard it was to make small talk with people. Over the break before University Alec had spent the time revising and trying to get ahead of the class, Izzy had tried to get Alec to meet new people, find out who was going to New York University with him. Alec walked back over to his bed, getting the last remaining clothes out of the case./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec felt his breath hitch, like a lump of ice had grown in his chest. A small silver frame laid at the bottom of the case, along the bottom the words 'Family' written in swirly writing. Alec reached in to the case and carefully picked up the frame. For the last year the picture had lived; under Alec's bed, in his cupboard and in his draw, anywhere it was out of sight. Alec was unsure what prompted him to take the photo with him, Alec stared down at the three small innocent faces looking up at him, he felt a lump start to form in his throat, water started to prick the side of his eyes, he cursed under is breath. It was the first day of his 'fresh start' and Alec was already screwing up. He looked back down at the photo, his thumb lovingly brushing over the faces. He wished he could go back, he remembered how the three of them were; f/spanull of promise, hope, always smiling. Then Alec had ruined it. He span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"took a large breath and placed the photo down on the bed wiping his hands down his face rubbing the back of his neck. Alec heard movement from the bathroom, he quickly reached down and placed the photo back in the case, closing the top. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Jace stepped out of the bathroom wearing a pair of black jeans, a dark short sleeved blue top. His hair had been slicked back./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hey so you wanna go grab some lunch or something" Jace was pulling his empty suitcase off his bed, pushing it underneath. He turned around to face Alec, a warm smile on his face "I haven't eaten since this morning and could defiantly go for a burger?" The boy had a friendly presence to him. Alec had only known him for a few minutes but could tell a lot about him. He clearly liked people, was a bit character. Jace's side of the room was covered in pictures; friends, family, Alec imagined him being popular in school, the kinda boys Alec hated. /span span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I mean were going to be roommates we should get to any each other right?" The boy walked towards Alec. Instinctively Alec retreated, taking a step back to create distances between him and Jace. Jace paused, seeming to understand./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I actually had something to eat this morning but thanks for the offer" Alec gave a fake smile, one he had perfected over the year. Jace give Alec a disappointed smile, but not pushing the boy any further. Alec appreciated it, he had spent the last year being poked and prodded by questions; are you okay? Whats wrong? Do you want to talk about it?/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Jace was about to exit the room when Alec spoke up "Actually, I could go for a coffee?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Jace gave Alec a small smile, seemingly surprised by Alec's change of heart, "Great, apparently there is a burger place on campus?" With that the boys left the room, Jace locking up as they left. Alec didn't know what made him change his mind, there was just something about Jace, most of Alec's friends were picked for him, his farther making sure they were 'appropriate' and wouldn't tarnish the 'Lightwood' name. Jace was different, he didn't know who Alec's dad was, he wasn't just trying to get close to him to get a intern job or get information. Alec didn't trust people easily, he had reason not to but Jace felt different, he hoped he wasn't wrong./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The pair walked into campus finding the burger joint easily. The ground floor was flooded with people, everyone grabbing food and chatting with friends. Alec and Jace sat on a small wooden table in the centre of the restaurant, dozens of tables surrounded them, each filled with people. Jace was tucking into his burger, clearly enjoying it. Alec had just ordered a black coffee, his appetite never really returned after-/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Alec?" Alec snapped out of his thought, Jace was staring at him, a hint of worry in his eyes./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec shock his head looking down at the table, running his hands through his jet black hair "Yeah, sorry I was-?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Its alright, you do that a lot you know that?" Jace's tone was light and playful, clearly trying to joke "Got a lot on your mind?" Alec looked up at Jace, he had finished his burger and was picking at the last of his fries. Alec gave a little shake of his head and looked back down at the table, he began to stir his coffee his eyes fixated on the liquid. Suddenly Alec became aware of how many people were around, it was as if someone had turned up the volume, increasing it to max. Alec used his free hand to rub the back of his neck, trying to calm himself down./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So where did you come from then?" Jace questioned, his mouth filled with fries./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Washington D.C, you?" Alec looked around the ground floor, it seemed the amount of people there had doubled. Alec hated crowds, he felt like he was being trapped or caged. Alec could feel people moving behind him, there bags hitting his chair./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Born and raised in New York" Jace looked up and gave Alec a smile, clearly enjoying his fries. /span span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""What you taking?/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec could feel panic starting to stir in his chest, he hadn't been in a group of people this large since- "Umm Criminal Law" Alec quickly replied before his mind could wonder to far./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Shit, heard thats a hard course! I'm taking History" Alec could hear Jace talking, rambling about lessons and teachers, he was like Izzy in that way, liked to talk. Maybe thats why Alec trusted him, he had a familiarly to him. He tried to focus on what Jace was saying but the noise of the people was to loud, Alec brought his hand up to his face, rubbing his temples to try and soothe his growing headache. /span span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hey Alec are you alright?" Alec raised his head to see Jace staring at him, his eyebrow furrowed like Izzy's was when she was partially worried about Alec. A sudden loud crash from a few tables away caused Alec to jump in his seat, his eyes squeezing shut. Alec quickly shock his head and stood up from the table, his chair screeching as he did so. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I should really get going, still got stuff to unpack, thanks for the coffee, I'll see you later" Alec quickly rushed his excuses and placed a $5 bill on the table for his coffee, he franticly turned around and pushed his way through the tables. He could hear Jace calling after him, but Alec pushed forward needing to leave the crowed prison. Alec pushed open the double doors and tumbled out into the campus, the fresh air instantly relaxing him. Alec moved away from the still crowed campus and started to walk down the street, his nerves still on edge. Alec didn't now where he was going, he had visited New York a couple times before but didn't know his way about, he just needed to leave the crowed area. Alec continued walking for a few minutes, his headache slowly fading into a small throb. As he walked down the street he noticed a small cafe, the front was made up of two large windows the words '/spandolce' across in fancy writing. Inside was a hand fall of people, six or seven at max. Alec wasn't sure what persuaded him to go inside but something did. Alec pushed the large doors open and walked inside, the smell of fresh coffee and pastries filled Alec's nose, his muscles started to relax. He walked over to the back of the Café and took a seat on a small leather sofa chair, a small coffee table in front, and a symmetrical sofa chair opposite. Alec's head rolled onto the back of the chair looking up at the celling. He took a breath and held it. Alec's hand reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. His held lulled forward, looking down at his phone. Alec paused for a moment before hitting speed dial 1. The phone rang for a moment before a loud shriek caused him to almost drop his phone/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""ALECCC!" Izzy's voice was loud and clearly excited, Alec could imagine her jumping up and down like she did when she was a kid./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Okay, so I think I may be deaf" Alec give a small chuckle and shot his head, using his free hand to rub his ear./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh shut up, so how is New York? Tell me everything!" Alec /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Its-its good thanks"/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hows your roommate? are they okay? if there not I'm sure dad could-" Alec felt himself tense at the mention of his father, quickly interrupting Izzy before she could carry on./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""There fine Izzy, we actually went out and grabbed some lunch" He decided to leave out the part where he bolted because he couldn't handle a crowd. Alec felt himself cringe at how pathetic he sounded. /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thats great Alec!" Alec could hear the relief in Izzy's voice, she clearly being as nervous as Alec was about the roommate./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah, so hows everything with you then? Hows school?" Alec preferred to listen to Izzy, her enthusiasm about life giving him a chance to escape. /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Okay, interning at the hospital in the evening and schools boring as usual" Like there mother, Izzy was training to be a doctor, following the family tradition. Although she wouldn't admit it herself Izzy was extremely smart and was set to be on course to attend Yale, just like mother. "So tell me about your roommate?" Izzy was wise to Alec's tricks, changing the subject back towards him./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""His names Jace, he's alright I guess" Alec shock his head lightly, slightly cringing at his behaviour earlier. Alec looked around the Café, a few more people had entered but the majority were sat at the front, keeping away from Alec. He looked over to the barista who was mindlessly cleaning glasses./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Is he cute?" Alec's head instantly snapped away, looking straight forward and large frown appearing on his face. /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What? Why? why would-" Alec could feel his face starting to heat up, a unsettling feeling rising in his stomach. Alec started to look around him, knowing it was illogically for anyone to have over heard the conversation but unable to stop himself. /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What? It was just a question" Izzy's voice was playful and Alec knew what that tone meant, he breathed a slight sigh of relief./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Isabelle no, uh uh, not happening, he's 18!" Alec leaned back on the chair, looking up at the white celling./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I didn't say-wait hold on a second" Alec could hear movement from the other side then a large sigh from his sister "-I've got a incoming call from dad" Alec copied his sisters sigh, squeezing his eyes shut for a second./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Its fine, I'll call you back later-" Alec knew Izzy wanted to continue talking to Alec but the stress of the day was finally starting to catch up with him./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No Alec its fine, dad can wait!" Izzy's voice had a hint of desperation to it, not wanting to leave her brother. /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I've got stuff to do anyway, I'll call you later Izzy" Alec leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees resting his head in one of his hands the other still holding the phone./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Love you Alec" Her voice was soft, a hint of sadness./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Love you to Izzy" Alec pulled the phone away from his face, hanging up. Alec was so engrossed in the object in his hand he failed to notice the man stood behind the sofa in front of him/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Is this sofa taken?" Alec's head wiped up. Stood in front of Alec was a young man, probably the same age as Alec but slightly shorter. He wore a pair of skinny black jean, the pockets embed with jewels. His top was lose fitting a dark maroon colour, the top few buttons undone exposing his chest, he wore a hand full of necklaces, each a different colour and shape. Like Alec, his hair was jet black like a crow. Alec couldn't help but be drawn to his eyes, a light brown colour, almost a yellow, it reminded Alec of cats eyes. His eyes were surrounded in gold glitter, some of it falling onto his checks. Alec couldn't help but stare at the man, his heart beating slightly faster than usual. The man gave Alec a smirk, looking Alec up and down, suddenly Alec felt very under dressed. Alec quickly became aware that he hadn't replied to the strange man, he opened his mouth to reply but found his mouth vacant of moisture./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Ermm, uh" Alec was suddenly lost for words, every word he had ever learn flying out of his brain, what was going on./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well now it is" The man replied playfully, he walked round the chair and sat down, crossing one leg over the other, his ankle resting on his knee. "I'm Magnus, Magnus Bane" The mans voice was silky a obvious confidence to it, Alec continued to look at the man, notices a dark maroon nail polish covering his nails, more jewellery adorning his hands "And I'm assuming you have a name?" The man leaned back in the chair, his arms resting on either side of the chair/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec" His voice came out breathy, Alec quickly took his eyes away from Magnus choosing to look at the far more interesting wooden table in front of him./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Magnus paused for a second, seemingly trying to decide what to say "Is that short for anything?"/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"This time it was Alec who paused. He never used his full name, it having to many painful memories attached to it, "Alexander" he replied quietly, he cringed at how weak his voice sounded./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well then Alexander, its lovely to meet you" Alec raised his head from the table, Magnus was still in the same position, he was looking at Alec, his cat like eyes bright an full of life. "So what course are you taking?"/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What?" Alec fully raised his head, making eye contact with Magnus./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Course? you know what people do at university?" His voice was laced with sarcasm, but not aggressive, more playful./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""How-how did you know?-" Alec sucked in a breath trying to regain control of his speech, before he could carry on Magnus spoke up, leaning forward on his seat./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""That you go to university? Well one your wearing a 'New York University' sticker on your sweater" Alec looked down at his black sweater, a large purple sticker in the middle of his chest, Alec cursed the woman who persuaded him to put it one, he quickly reached his hand up and ripped the sticker off, scrunching it into a ball. "and the other reason I know is because the only cute people around here go to the university" /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec felt his whole face heating up, he looked down at his lap, his thumb rubbing the palm of his other hand "I uhh, umm-"/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Your very adorable when you stutter you know that" The man was tilted his head to the side, his mouth opening to expose a set of perfect white teeth, the mans lips had the smallest hint of glitter on them, a bright gold, matching his eyes./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I-I should be going" Alec quickly stood up, his knee hitting the table on the way. "I've got-got stuff to unpack-"/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""But Alexander, we've just met, there's plenty more I'd like to know about you darling" Magnus leaned back on his chair, gesturing to the sofa Alec was seated on. Alec paused, looking at the stranger, Magnus cocked his head towards the empty seat, raising his eyebrows suggestively./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I've got to go, sorry" Alec didn't have the energy to come up with a clever lie, his brain still confused as to what had just happened. As Alec left the shop he realised that his breathing had significantly increased. He walked down the street back towards his apartment wanting to get into bed and forget the day had happened. /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It had taken Alec less than ten minutes to get back to the apartment. He quickly climbed the stairs not wanting to deal with the lift. As he opened the door from the stairs he noticed a swarm of people in the corridor door. Alec swore under his breath making his way to his room which was at the end. He kept his head and and walked through the crowd. Everyone and laughing and joking, obviously a group of people that already know each other and other people who just want to join in. Alec felt his palms becoming sweaty, he quickly wiped them on his jeans and walked forward. Alec could see his door, he breathed a sigh of relief, the amount of contact between him and the strangers becoming to much. Alec raced towards the door and quickly pulled his key from his pocket, unlocking the door and frantically closing it behind him. Alec rested his forehead against the door trying to relax his breathing. 5...4...3-/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey!" Alec quickly spun around to find the source of the noise, "Whoa, its okay its just me!" Jace held his hands up in front of him, the boy looked incredibly worried. His eyes trailing up and down his body, still wearing a face of concern. Alec had seen this before, it was something Izzy would do. It was then Alec realised why Jace looked so worried. Alec had instinctively backed up against the dorm room door, like a scared animal, his hands bulled up into tight fists, his knuckles going white from the pressure. Alec pushed himself off the door and walked over to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. He went over to the tap, turning it on. Alec watched as the water flowed from the tap, little droplets splashing out of the sink and hitting Alec on the face. He shoved his hands into the icy water and cupped some, bringing it to his face. The water ran down Alec's face and down his neck. He pulled his hands down and gripped the sink edge trying to regain his breathing. /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey Alec, are you okay in there?" The voice came from right outside the room, although the door wasn't locked, Jace made no attempt to open it and Alec was thankful./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm fine Jace" He didn't sound as convincing as he would of liked. Alec hadn't been around so many people in a long time and he had forgotten how difficult it was. He leaned more heavily on the sink. He scrunched his face up, he hated it. He hated this feeling, like he had no control of what was happening./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You sure? Should I get a someone or-" He could hear movement from the other side, like Jace was moving away from the door./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No! I'm fine!" His reply came out more harsh than he attended but the thought of a crowd of people gathering in the room made Alec want to be sick. There was no response from Jace, Alec gave a sigh of relief. He looked down into the sink, water droplets making there way down the white porcelain. Alec took a few more breaths before drying his face with the small towel. He reached for the door handle, taking one more breath before pulling on the handle and walking out of the bath room. When he came back into the room he saw Jace seated on the edge of his bed, his legs hanging over./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You good?" The boys blue eyes were wide, looking at Alec with worry. Alec quickly turned away and walked towards his draw grabbing a pair of joggers and a plain long sleeved grey top before walking back over to the bathroom./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah just-just been a long day" He opened the door and went inside, leaning his head against the door. He quickly took of his jeans throwing them onto the floor. He lifted up his sweater throwing it to the floor, Alec breathed for a moment before picking up the grey top and placing it over his head. He gathered up his clothes and left the bathroom, throwing them onto the floor by his bed. Alec looked over to Jace's side, the boy was in the same position as he was, still watching Alec with a worried looked./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm okay Jace, its just been a stressful day" His voice sounded tired and he hoped Jace would let it go as he wasn't in the mood to argue with his new roommate. He looked over at the boy, his face unchanging. Finally it appeared that had given in. He gave Alec a reassuring smile before moving off the bed to grab his own sleeping clothes. Alec laid down on on his bed looking up at the celling. He felt the stress of the day washing over him. Alec had convinced himself that this was a fresh start, a part of Alec was still convinced this was true, lived in the hope that a new city and new school would change everything that happened over the last year. However there was another part of Alec, one the he had tried to keep repressed for the last few months. Despite his efforts this little voice had still managed to creep into his mind; moving to a new school and city would change nothing, it wouldn't undone the damage done, it would change what Alec did. He pulled the covers back and crawled into the bed. He reached over to his desk and grabbed his phone, setting an alarm for his morning class. As he laid back in the bed he rolled onto his back looking up at the white celling closing his eyes./p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec had sworn to himself this would be a new beginning, but if today was anything to go by it seemed to be the same story with a different name. /p 


	2. Chapter 2

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The incessant beep of the alarm clock pulled Alec from his sleep. Rolling over on his bed he grabbed his phone checking the time; 7:00. Alec groaned before sitting up in bed, the sheets falling into his lap. He reached up and rubbed his eyes, running his hand through his hair. Alec didn't have class until 8:30am but wanted to shower and get ready before Jace woke up, his classes starting later than Alec. Peeling back the covers Alec carefully swung his legs over the bed, leaning over to his drawers and grabbed a long sleeved grey baggy sweatshirt and a pair of black jeans. He tiptoed towards the bathroom and quietly opened the door shutting it after him. He shuffled over to the sink and paused; dark bags had gathered under Alec's eyes his skin a pale colour. Alec looked up and caught his blue eyes in the mirror, he quickly shut them and looked away. Alec hadn't slept particularly well the night before, a new bed and a stranger in the room did not help his stress levels. Alec pulled off his PJ's and jumped into the shower. The warm water instantly decreasing his anxiety, abet only slightly. Alec rubbed a hand down his face, today was the first day of lessons. He immediately felt his stress level shoot up; classes meant people, and lots of them. Alec gave a large sigh before stepping out of the shower. He picked his new clothes off the floor and quickly got changed. Alec just stood in the bathroom for a minute, trying to prepare himself for the day, instinctively Alec's hand wrapped round his left wrist, rubbing it slightly. He shock his head and nipped out of the bathroom, careful not to wake to still sleeping Jace. He slowly walked over to his desk and checked his phone; 7:15, Alec had clearly been in the shower longer than he thought. He snatched up the phone and exited the room./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec took a slow walk towards the campus looking down at his phone. Izzy had sent Alec a text in the morning, just checking in making sure he was okay. He quickly texted her a response about how he was fine and really enjoying Uni life so far; a lie. Something Alec had perfected doing over the last year whether it was to others or himself. He shoved the phone into his pocket and took of down the road. When Alec arrived at the campus he quickly grabbed a coffee, he found a small empty table and sat down, killing some time before leaving for class. Alec looked out into the room, a few students were wandering around, early morning classes. As Alec observed the students, a thought appeared into his mind; I wonder if Magnus goes here? When he got back to his room Alec didn't have much time to think about the event at the Cafe. The guy was like nothing Alec had seen before, all the boys at his private school were all the same; rich, rude and obnoxious. Magnus seemed different, he had a strange confidences to himself but not in a obnoxious way. Alec squeezed his eyes shut. What was he doing? They had spoken for a few minuets, the guy was probably just interested in his seat, and even so what did Alec care? It was like he was interested in him. Alec could feel the onsets of a headache coming on, he downed his coffee and headed off towards class. By the time Alec arrived at the room there was only a few minutes to spare. A few students had started to take there seats near the front. Alec walked to the far back of the room, slotting into a seat at the end of the row. He pulled out his books and started to set up his desk. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Told you the cute ones go to the University" Alec's head shot up from his desk, In front of his stood the last person he thought he would see; Magnus Bane. He was dressed in skinny maroon jeans and a black top which had the words 'Hands off' in jewels of different colours. The boy wore a large bright smile, his eyes shinning. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Magnus" The words came out in a rush, Magnus gave Alec a mischievous wink before sitting down in the seat in front. Alec cursed to himself, he just wanted to get through the lecture with his head down. Alec considered moving seats, just picking up his stuff and moving to the other side. Before he could make any decision Magnus turned around./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I was worried that there wouldn't be any hot guys in the class but It appears I was wrong" Alec felt his cheeks heating up, he tried to avert his gaze from Magnus, choosing to look at the far less interesting books on his table. What was wrong with him? Why did Magnus make him so nervous. As if Magnus could read his mind he spoke up again "Are you always this nervous?" Alec slowly looked up from his desk, Magnus was looking at him with a large grin clearly finding the whole situation amusing. "I must say I didn't picture you as a criminal law student, I was think more-"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"A loud booming voice cut of Magnus, he gave Alec a finale smile before turning around the face the front. "Good morning class I am professor Starkweather!" The blonde teacher placed his brief case on the table, opening it and grabbing out bits of paper./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"While the teacher was setting up Magnus quickly turned around, finding Alec's eye line "I Guess we'll have to carry on this conversation at a later date" He gave a cheeky smile before spinning round to face the front. What was it with this guy, why wouldn't he leave Alec alone? He wasn't interested. Alec looked down at his desk, colouring in the margins in his text book with his pencil. Alec wasn't interested. He repeated it over and over in his head. Over the last day Alec had repeated many things over in his mind; This was a fresh start, don't think about it, you're fine, you're not interested. He wondered about how many of these were actually true. Alec wasn't interested, he couldn't, he wasn't. He was just stressed and his mind was confused. Alec squeezed harder on the pencil, not really paying attention to the teacher. He sighed; he needed to pay attention, he had read ahead over the holidays but still needed to be taking notes and asking questions. He had to make up for everything he had done, he owed his parents that much, not that it would change anything but at least it was something. As on queue of mentioning his parents Alec felt his body tense, a feeling of guilt and anger washing over him. Alec looked up from the desk to see what he had missed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Blood. Blood everywhere. Alec felt the colour drain from his face, his already pale skin becoming almost translucent. His knuckles wrapped around the pencil tightly, his knuckles turning a piercing white. On the screen at the front of the classroom was a large image of what looked like a man lying on the floor, his arms and legs spread out, a large pool of thick blood surrounding him; on his clothes, face, body. Alec could see the teachers mouth moving but heard nothing, the world going deathly silence. Alec squeezed his eyes shut, dropping his pencil on the table bring them up to rub his eyes. He opened his eyes again, the whole room was turned and facing him, the teacher looking up at him with a odd expression./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alexander Lightwood?" Alec just looked at the teacher unsure what was happening, his mind was spinning, everything feeling slightly fuzzy like he was drunk. "So what would you; as a criminal defence lawyer use from the evidence photo to help your client?" Alec has no idea what was going on; what client? He tried to say something but nothing came out, Alec gripped his hands on the the edge of his desk, trying to stop them from shaking. The teacher just looked at him, he opened his mouth to say something when a voice cut him off./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well the fact that the blood is smeared on the ground suggest the body has been moved postmortem I would say that our client who is a young female couldn't of possibly moved the body that far by herself? Theres only one set of foot prints so it must have been one person; thus not our client?" Magnus recited the information without difficulty, the teacher looked from Alec then back to Magnus. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thankyou-"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Magnus, Magnus Bane" Magnus gave a wave of his hand./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well that was a good observation Magnus, and Alexander don't be afraid to speak up next time" The teacher gave Alec a finale look of concern before changing the slide to some writing which Alec could no longer see, his vision blurred from unshed tears./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Saved your bacon there" Magnus whispered from his seat in front, he turned his head to face Alec "think you owe-Alexander you okay?" Alec's eyes were still attached to the screen at the front his breath coming out in short bursts. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alexander?" Alec finally tore his eyes from the screen, Magnus was almost fully turned in his seat. He was looking up at Alec with a troubled look on his face, his usual cheeky smile all but gone. He looked down at Magnus, everything finally become to much for Alec, he frantically stood un in his seat, not bothering to grab his books or bag and took off down the lecture hall stairs. He pushed open the double doors and rushed down the hall. Alec noticed a bathroom on the left and dived in, throwing the door open. Alec felt his knees beginning to shake, he stubbled towards the sink and managed to grab the edge before his leg gave way. Alec's arms were shaking from the pressure, he quickly released one arm and turned on the tap. The rushing water splashed off the sink. Alec placed his shaking hands under the water, bringing it to his face, the droplets felt icy against his sweaty skin. The water was doing nothing, he shut the tap off and leaned against the sink trying to get his breathing under control; not now, not now, not now. Shit. Shit. Shit. Alec's rapid breathing increased, his vision started to blur again. He gripped thighed onto the sink, convinced if he held it any tighter it would break. Alec stumbled back from the sink, crashing into one of the toilet stall doors. As soon as he closed the door behind him his knees collapsed beneath him. He throw open the toilet seat lid and heaved up the coffee he had this morning. Alec continued the throw up until there was nothing, he carried on dry heavy until he finally fell against the door behind him. Alec breathed hard, his head resting against the door, his eyes shut. Alec didn't make any attempt to move from his position, to scared it would cause him to throw up again. Alec moved his legs out from beneath him, stretching them out in front of him. He brought his hands up to his face, running it through his hair. Alec kicked out at the toilet seat. He paused before kicking it again and again until his legs felt weak, he felt a small tear escaping his eye running down his check. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He needed to be better than this. He felt pathetic, he was. His second day at University and he was sat on the floor of the bathroom, a toilet full of sick in front of him. Alec could feel more tears pricking the corner of his eyes. He looked up at the celling trying to blink them away, he was not going to cry. He was 18 years old. Alec needed to get a hold of himself. He was meant to be here to get his qualifications; He had sworn to his parents that he would try his hardest and get all the highest grades, trying to make up for his failure in his SAT's. After that he was to get a high paying job and then marry a nice 'acceptable' girl and have a family. That was his parents plan for him, what he has been working towards his whole life. Alec felt himself feeling sick again. He owed this to them. He had to do it for them. Alec was about to push himself off the floor when he got a unsettling feeling in his stomach. He didn't want to go back in. What would they all think? What if they tried to ask him what happened? What would he say? The truth. The thought of that made Alec lurch forward and grab the rim of the toilet seat fearing he would throw up again. The truth, Alec shock his head, pushing that thought out of his head. They couldn't know, none of them could. Alec fell back on his feet, he dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone, he hit speed dial one. The phone rang for a moment before Izzy picked up./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec?" She sounded surprised to hear from him, this didn't surprise Alec. He rarely rang Izzy, she usually having to be the one to initiate the conversation/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey Izzy" Alec's voice sounded hoarse, he flinched at how weak he sounded./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Everything alright?" Izzy instantly picked up on it, her voice dripping with concern for her older brother./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah I'm fine, I just thought I'd ring to see how you are?" He tried to reposition himself on the floor. Resting his back against the door, stretching his legs fully out in front of him. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah I'm good, were just at break now, I'm already done with this day." Izzy continued to talk about her day; what she had done, what she was going to do. Alec felt himself relaxing, his breath evening out. A short while ago Alec would of dealt with this in a very different way; his free hand wrapping protectively around his left wrist. He as trying to be better. Listening to Izzy helped, she talked with such optimism that it made Alec feel hopefully. Hopefully that things could go back to the way they were. Alec listened to Izzy talk for what felt his hours, his little sister talking about anything and everything; like she knew its what he needed. After a while, Izzy had to go back to class. The siblings said goodbye and Izzy said she would call him later. Alec rose from the floor putting the phone back into his pocket. He flushed the toilet and staggered out of the stall. Avoiding his gaze in the mirror Alec walked out of the bathroom. The hallway was now filled with people. He strode down the hallway towards his class, as he approached, Alec saw people pouring out of the room. He paused at the end of the hallway waiting for them to clear. Once it was empty Alec pulled opened the doors and entered the room. He walked up towards his stuff, his bags and books in the same position as he left it. Alec grabbed his book and shoved it into his bag. He picked his note pad up to place in the bag when something fell out. Alec bent down, a small yellow post it note laid on the floor by Alec's feet. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"'If you need to catch up on the notes, feel free to call me - Magnus Bane' The note was written in a blue pen, the writing sophisticated and neat. At the bottom of the note was a number. Alec looked down at the paper. He shoved the note into his pocket, deciding to deal with it later and carried on putting his stuff away. Once he was done he took off down that stairs./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Luckily Alec had no more classes for the day so opted to head back to his room, looking forward to the piece and quite. As he was walking down the street his hand went into his pocket, pulling out the crumpled note. Alec looked down at it. Magnus Bane. The name caused Alec to feel a flutter in his chest. He took another look at the note and put it back. He should just throw it away, he wasn't going to use it. He wasn't going to call him. Alec sighed, he just needed to forget about him, however something inside Alec told him that would be easier said than done, Magnus Bane seemed like a person that was not easily forgotten./p 


	3. Chapter 3

p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec pulled open the door to the block of flats. The place was pretty empty, most of the students at lessons or lunch. Alec walked passed the elevator not giving it a second look. He climbed the stairs, a small throbbing appearing in his leg. He approached his room, unlocking it. He pushed the door open it. Alec closed the door behind him. The room was empty, he walked over to the bed and flopped down on it, his face crashing into the pillow. Alec could feel the exhumation from the events of the day washing over him, he flipped over on his bed. He gripped his left wrist, his thumb tracing over the faded lines. Alec didn't bring it with him, deciding it was to risky. 63 days. Alec's heart was still rapidly beating in his chest, his palms sweating. It was times like this he missed it, it grounded him, allowed him to be in control. Alec pressed harder on his wrist, squeezing his eyes shut. Alec quickly shot up from his bed, moving over to his desk. He needed to keep busy, needed to do something. He opened his laptop; a picture of Izzy pulling a stupid face was Alec's background, he gave a little smile. She had set that picture as his background months ago, Alec didn't have the heart to change it. The door to the bedroom opened. Alec turned around and saw Jace walking in, throwing his back pack onto the bed and failing down next to it, a large sigh escaping his mouth. Alec was about to speak up when Jace sat up on the bed, jumping slightly at the sight of Alec./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Oh hey, didn't meant to crash into the room"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""No its fine" Alec gave a little shake of his head. Part of Alec wanted to be alone, not wanting to talk to people or be crowed. On the other hand, being alone with his own thoughts could be just as bad or even worse, it was almost as if Alec could never win./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""How was your first lesson? Must have been pretty early, you were already gone when I woke up" Jace stood up from the bed, pulling down his white T-shirt that had ridden up slightly./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah my first lesson was at 8:30am" Alec turned around in his chair, facing Jace more./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Jace walked over to his own desk taking a seat sideways, putting his feet up on the bed. "How was it?" He grabbed a book off the desk and started to flip through it aimlessly./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec felt himself tense, deciding less information was the best option "Okay" He looked at Jace, he was looking at Alec with curiosity, having put the book down. Alec sighed "What about you?" Normally Alec would of just left it, but there was something about Jace he didn't have a intense desire to shut him out./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah it was alright, teacher was a bit of a hardass though, however I did see this hot girl on the way back to the room, shame she isn't taking history. She had this crazy bright hair, never seen anyone like her before" Jace started to ramble about the girl, talking about how her name was Clary and she was a art major. Alec smiled, Jace was clearly smitten with the girl, even if he protested that he didn't 'get smitten' it was odd, how open Jace was. Alec could never imagine being like that, just trusting someone with your thoughts and feelings. Alec was so caught up in his own thoughts that he didn't notice Jace had stopped talking. He looked towards Alec, then slightly passed him, pointing his finger toward the laptop. "That your girlfriend?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec's head snapped his head around, the image of Izzy still light up on his screen. He shut the lid and turned back towards Jace "What Izzy?! God no, no she's my little sister" Alec shook his head./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Jace gave a embarrassed smile "Oh shit, sorry about that"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""It-its alright" He gave a little smile back towards Jace./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""How old is she?" Jace got up from the desk, walking back over to his bed and talking a seat, his head resting against the headboard./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""16, she lives up in Washington with my parents" Alec moved his chair so he was facing Jace more./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Always thought it would be cool to have a little sister" Jace stretched his legs out on his bed, kicking his bag off the bed, it failing to the floor with a thud./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""She's alright I guess" Alec gave a small chuckle, a warm feeling spreading in his chest./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Got any other siblings" The warmth instantly stood, being replaced by a cold ice feeling. Alec froze in his seat, looking away from Jace. His mind floated back to the picture hidden underneath his bed; he dreaded this question. "Alec?" He slowly moved his head to look at Jace, the boy was sat upright in the bed, his arms resting on his knees, a perplexed look on his face./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Uhh, no" Alec whispered "Its just us two" He pulled his eyes away from Jace, facing back towards his desk./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Jace was still looking at Alec, still in a sate of confusion. What had he said? Jace wanted to be friends with his roommate, knowing it would make things easier for him; a part of him was also intrigued by the boy. Jace decided not to say anything else, not wanting to further upset the boy./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"There was a awkward tension that filled the room, Alec could fill it pushing down on him "I think I'm going to go grab some lunch, I'll catch you later Jace" Alec quickly stood up from his desk, grabbing his bag off the floor, heading to the door not making eye contact with Jace/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""See ya" There was a pause as Alec was about the open the door "Hey Alec!" Jace called. He turned to see that Jace had moved off the bed, walking towards him./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah?" He kept his eyes on the door in front of him./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Look I know we haven't known each other that long but if you ever need to talk about something-"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec cut him off, holding up a hand. Jace stopped in his tracks. "Thanks Jace" He gave a smile smile before walking out the door./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The room? Nope./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The canteen? Nope./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Café dolce? Nope/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He gave a large sigh as he walked down the street away from the apartment. Alec had only been there a day and it felt like everything was going wrong, the feeling of anxiety not leaving him, like a constant fear that something was going to happen. He hated feeling on edge. This was meant to be his fresh start, his chance to start a new and all that crap he told himself. That dream seemed to be fading away quickly. Alec stopped walking, realising he didn't know where he was going. He thought about finding a Café but knew they would all be filled with student, maybe some from his class. What if they wanted to talk about what happened? Alec rubbed his neck, this whole 'fresh start' was becoming harder than he planned./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"********/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magnus stared at the book in front of him, not reading any of the words, his mind on other things. "Okay, are you even listening to me?" Magnus looks up from the book; Tessa was staring at him, her brown hair falling in front of her eyes./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Of course I'm listening to you darling, do continue!" He looked back down at book, giving a small sigh./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I will, once you tell me what I just said?" She gave him a look, her eye brow raised, confident that she had caught him out./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magnus paused, slightly pursing his lips and looking up to the celling. After a second Magnus shook his head in defeat "Okay I stopped listening after you started to talk about Will" Magnus closed the book in front of him./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""What is with you?" Tessa pushed a strand of hair out of her face, revealing her almost grey eyes. "/span span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"You've been distracted all lunch, you've been starting at the same page for about 20minutes!" She motioned to the now closed book./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Its a very fascinating page" Magnus lied, giving a dramatic wave of his hand./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Tessa shook her head deciding to change the subject. "So how was your first class?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Okay…there was this boy-" Before Magnus could carry on, Tessa slammed her hand on the table, pointing her finger at Magnus./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I knew it!"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magnus slowly reached out and pinched her finger, removing it from his face "Okay relax there sherlock homes" Tessa pulled her hand back in, scooting closer to Magnus./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Whats his name? What happened?" Her voice was full of excitement, like a child on christmas morning./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magnus gave Tessa a smile, leaning forward on his seat. "Well I met him the other day-"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You met someone and you didn't tell me!" She pulled back in her seat, giving him a glaring look./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I'm telling you now and I'm going to stop unless you relax." Tessa opened her mouth to say something but closed it, leaning back on her chair, her arms crossing over her chest. "I saw him in a cafe in the other day and went over, he was awkward but in the cute way. He left before I could get his number"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Thats rare" Tessa chuckled./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Today I walked into class and saw him at the back so I went over to sit by him because well, he's gorgeous" Magnus paused, the boy was gorgeous. His eyes were a electric blue, almost like little sparks of electricity filled them. His hair was black, but not a dull black, but shinning like a crow or oil, his hair was shot but full, little curls hanging over his forehead."We spoke for a bit but then the teacher came in and interpreted my fun" He gave a disapproving shake of his head./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Crazy, not like your in class to learn and not to ogle boys" Tessa teased, Magnus ignored her and continued./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So half way through the lesson, the teacher asks him a question and he didn't say anything so I turned around to see what was going on-" Magnus could remember the boys face. Magnus had seen a lot in his short life, but he had never seen someone look so terrified and haunted, the fear in the boys eyes something Magnus wouldn't forget./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""What?" Tessa gave Magnus a puzzled look./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""He got all freaked out, wouldn't answer or say anything, so I did it for him"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""What a gentleman" Tessa replied, giving Magnus a playful grin./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Then he just got up and left" Magnus gave another wave of his hand, leaning forward to rest his arms on the desk./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Really?" Tessa matched Magnus movement./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He rolled his eyes at his best friend "No I made up this whole story!" He shook his head before carrying on "He didn't come back, so before the lesson ended I left my number saying he could call if he needed the notes"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""And has he?" The excitement in Tessa voice was obvious./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""If he did, do you think I would be sitting here with you?" Magnus gave a frustrated sigh, why hadn't he called? Most people called as soon as he gave them the number, which didn't surprise him./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""What was his name?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Alexander-" Magnus paused, his eyes fixated on the boy that has just walked in./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Tessa followed Magnus's eye line. Walking in into the room was a boy; about 6ft. Dark black hair and blue eyes; Magnus favourite combination./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I'm guessing thats him?" Magnus contained to stare at the boy before looking back round at her. "Why don't you go talk to him?" Magnus stood up from the table, pulling down his black t-shirt and grabbing his bag./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Thats what I was planning to do my love" He gave Tessa a wink before walking over to the boy who was now seated at a table getting books out of his bag. He walked over to the table and stood in front of it, the boy still not noticing him./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Fancy seeing you here" Magnus wore his best smile. The boy paused, not looking up from his position. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Crap. Carp. Crap. Alec thought. He had gone to the library to get away from people, to be alone. He didn't go to Café Dolce because he was worried Magnus might be there. He could feel Magnus looking at him, his face still looking into his bag. He slowly pulled out his last book, placing it on the table, finally looking up at him./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magnus smile instantly faded once he saw the look on Alec's face. His skin was pale, paler than yesterday. His electric blue eyes seemed dulled, the white's of his eyes contaminated with red. He look tried. Not just in a 'I've been up all night studying way' but a way that made Magnus feel sympathy for the young boy. "I was just wondering if you wanted to notes from today's lesson?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Um its fine" Alec shock his head, looking down at the book in front of him/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Its no trouble really" Magnus replied. The boy continued looking down at his desk, he sighed, clearly this boy was the stubborn type "Its fine Alexander just take them" He opened his bag and grabbed out his note book placing it in front of Alec, sliding it closer to him "You can give them back when your done?" Alec looked at the notes then back up at Magnus./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Thankyou Magnus" The boy sounded just as tried as he look, he gave a half hearted smile./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magnus felt a sting in his heart. What had caused this boy to be so /spandistressed? span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""No problem Alexander" He gave Alec one last smiling before turning on his heels and walking back to the table with Tessa. She stood up, walking round the table to greet him, linking her arm through his as they walked out of the Library. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So what happened?" She leaned into him, her brown hair swaying. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I gave him the notes from todays lesson" Magnus replied nonchalantly, giving a shrug of his shoulders./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Thats its? No date? Nothing?" Replied a clearly disappointed Tessa./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Normally Magnus would of pushed a bit, maybe sitting down and flirting; he never was the subtle type. However something told him that wasn't the way with Alexander; maybe it was what happened today in class, or his tired look, but something told him that pushing this boy wasn't the best idea. It was only the first day of the new school year, Magnus had time "Just be patient darling" He gave Tessa a wink as they walked out of the library./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec gave a large sigh as Magnus left the room, arms linked in with a brown haired girl. Alec felt a odd feeling in his chest; jealously? Why would he be jealous? He pulled the notebook forward and opened the page. The writing was just like the one on the post-it-note. Alec paused. He carefully put his hand into his pocket, pulling out the note. He started at it for a moment before laying it onto the table, using one hand to flatted the note. He looked at it. He pulled out his phone, going to his contact list. New contact. Alec's fingers quickly typed the name 'Magnus Bane'. His finger hovered over the 'confirm' button. He looked back down at the note. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'Feel free to call me'/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He hit confirm. He shoved the phone back into his pocket along with the notes. gluing his eyes at the page below him. A mixture of feelings swirled around in Alec's chest; anxiety, uneasiness, confusion. However as Alec thought about the note in his pocket and the boy who had given it to him, another feeling appeared in his chest; hope. /span/p 


	4. Chapter 4

p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The blood was seeping through the gaps in Alec's fingers, covering his hands and wrists. The warm blood pooling around his knees, seeping through his clothes. He could feel the blood starting to dry, the cool metallic smell bombarding his sense. Alec wanted to be sick, he cloud feel blood everywhere; on his hands, clothes, body, face. He pushed down harder on the wound, trying to get the blood to stop./span /spanspan class="apple-converted-space" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Blood. Alec suddenly wasn't in the alley anymore but stood in the hospital bathroom, staring in the mirror. His face was white, blood smudged across his face and neck. He shoved on the tap, throwing his hands under the water, the water turning a dark red shade. Alec rubbed his hands furiously, apply soap. He looked up to the mirror; he grabbed a handful of water and brought it to his face, rubbing the blood. Alec kept rubbing his hands until he was sure all the blood was gone. He turned the tap off and locked up into the mirror./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You know why it wont go right Alexander?" Izzy was stood behind him in the mirror, her long pair shoved up into a messy bun, her mascara running down her face, her bright eyes filled with anger and grief. Alec just looked at his sister, this wasn't happening. This wasn't real. "Its because YOU killed him" She took a step closer to him, her face scowling at him./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Izzy-" Alec turned around to face her, his voice was weak, barley above a whisper./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You killed him" her voice was harsh, no sympathy present./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I didn't mea-" She stormed towards him, her finger being shoved into his chest./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""YOU KILLED HIM, IT WAS YOUR FAULT" Alec tried to move but found he couldn't, his legs unable to, he turned away from this nightmare version of his sister./span/span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""No, no, no, no, this isn't real" He shook his head, trying to convince himself./span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""ITS ALL YOUR FAULT! -" The voice assaulted his ears, a ringing noise starting to form. He wanted to turn away and hide./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He turned to his sister, tears pouring down his pale face. "I'm sorry-"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec flew up from his seat, flying back in his chair, he grabbed onto the table to stop himself from falling. His hands gripped the table hard, trying to stop them from shaking. Alec's heart was thudding in his chest, convinced if it went any faster it would just stop. Alec stood up from his desk and stumbled back, his balance unstable, his vision becoming blurred. He leaned forward and grabbed his books shoving them into his bag with no precisions. He stumbled out of the library, needing to get air. The cold air hit him in the face, forcing him to take a large breath. Alec could feel a droplet fall down his face; he pulled his hand up to his face. His face was damp with tears. Alec threw his bag to the floor using both his hands to rub at his face. Alec hadn't had a nightmare like this in a while. Usually they were memories, a step-by-step reconstruction of what happened, sometimes stopping before it got to-other times he was forced to relive it. These were different; they were twisted versions of what happened filled with anger and confusion. Over the year Alec had had many different memories of that night and the constant change in events sometimes made it hard to focus on what was real, what really happened. Alec brought his hands down, grabbing his bag off the floor. He staggered back and leant against the wall, closing his eyes./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Alexander?" Alec opened his eyes. Stood in front of his was Magnus, his eyes almost shinning in the dark. "It 12:32, was my writing that hard to read?" He gave a small chuckle and started to walk towards Alec. He felt his heart rise; he pressed himself further into the well, the cold biting into his back. Magnus stopped walking, clearly noticing. "Hey? You okay?" Magnus stared at the boy; his back was pressed up against the wall, like a scared animal hiding in the corner./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah, I just-I needed some air" Alec pushed himself off the wall. He knew how pathetic he looked, he hated it./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magnus looked at the boy, something had clearly spooked him. Magnus was about to leave it when he notices something. Alec had his hands balled in fists next to him, his knuckles almost white from the pressure. As Magnus looked closer, he started to notice more. Not only were his hands shaking but his whole body. He looked deathly pale, his eyes erratically looking around him, the whites of his eyes red, the skin underneath slightly puffy; the boy had been crying. As Magnus started to process the information he started to think; maybe this was something more than just being spooked, the boy looked down right terrified "Your shaking?" Magnus said, his voice slightly void of its usual confidences replaced with a softness Alec hadn't heard before./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Its-its fine" Alec pushed himself off the wall and started to walk away, pulling the strap on his shoulder closer. He avoided Magnus gaze, just wanting to get away from everyone./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Alexande-" Magnus almost pleaded/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec turned on his heels, his eyes flashed with sorrow "Alec, don't call me alexander" His voice was harsher than he intended, Magnus looked shocked. Alec sighed, this wasn't Magnus's fault, this was Alec's crap. "Please" There was a softness to the last part, his eyes almost begging Magnus/span/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Okay, Alec." Magnus took a step closer to Alec, making sure the boy was okay with it "I was about to go grab some coffee, would you like to join me, seems like you could use one?" Magnus gestured to Alec's shaky posture./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec shook his head, turning away from Magnus, he could barley process what was going on "Umm I'm not sure-" Magnus held up his hand./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You don't have to explain what's wrong or talk about it but seems like you could use some caffeine?"/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec thought about it, he could use some coffee; but with Magnus? Maybe it would give him a distraction, allow him to clear his head. "O-okay" Alec gave a little nod. Magnus gave him a smile and walked towards him, giving Alec some room./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The pair walked down the street in silence for a while when Magnus spoke up "So did you find the notes okay?" He looked over to Alec who seemed to be deep in thought somewhere./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah, thanks for them, I've just got a few pages left." Alec had fallen asleep before he could finish, his body running low on energy. "Unless you need them back, I mean-" Magnus could hear the panic in Alec's voice. Magnus quickly corrected himself/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""No, no its fine." He gave Alec a warm smile. Alec sighed, his head was still pounding. The pair went silence again, Alec decided to speak up./span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So what are you doing out at this time?" He looked over at Magnus, who in turn looked back at him./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I was visiting my friend Camille, she doesn't live around here so I had to get a late train back."/span /spanspan class="apple-converted-space" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So what cafe is open at this time" Alec looked around, most of the shops were close, only a few bars open./span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Remember that Cafe where we met?" Magnus raised his eyes brows at Alec. Alec looked at the street he was on, he recognised it, this is where he walked when he first found the Cafe./span /spanspan style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Oh yeah" He gave a little smile, remembering when he first saw the boy in the cafe. It was only yesterday but it seemed like weeks ago. The pair continued to walk when Magnus stopped, gesturing for Alec to do the same./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hey, lets cut down here, it will cut about 10minutes out of our journey." Magnus looked down the dark alley, a few bulbs lighting to way. The boy hadn't said anything "Alec?" There was no response so he turned around to see what was happening. What had he said? The already paled boy looked basically transparent, his blue eyes the only source of colour, his hands that has started to steady began to shake again. What had Magnus done?. He turned away from the alley and walked towards Alec, his voice quite and soft./span /spanspan class="apple-converted-space" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /span /spanspan class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hey what's wrong?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec felt like he had been punch in the chest. It was as if everything Alec had been trying to avoid had been thrown at him; the picture, the dream and now this. He didn't know what to do. He should just man up and go down the alley, he looked passed Magnus towards the dark alley./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"An ear shattering boom rang out on the alley, the sharp noises echoed for a few seconds before silence befall the alley./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Shit" Alec's head turned towards the voice./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"A skinny man stood a few feet from the group, and Black Hand gun in his hand, on the floor in front of him lead a body-/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I-I can't" Alec pulled himself from the memory, not wanting to remember what happened next. He took a few steps away from the gate to the alley, pulling away his eyes the dark alley./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Magnus paused, thinking about what to do next. He was usually pretty good at reading people; he could tell when Tessa was upset about Will and when Camille needed to be left alone but with Alec...Cleary there was something seriously troubling the boy, his behaviour in class earlier and now this. Magnus wanted to know what was wrong, what he could do to help. He didn't know why he was so invested in Alec's wellbeing, they had only known each other for a day. There was just something about Alec. "You know what, its a lovely night I don't mind a longer walk" Alec looked around at Magnus. Magnus gave him a small smile and started to walk away from the alley. Alec gave it one finale look before walking away./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"He followed Magnus down the road. Alec felt sick. His breathing was out of control his head hurt. Why did he agree to go for coffee. Why didn't he just go back to the room. He mentally kicked himself for agreeing to go out. Why couldn't get have just gone down the alley. It had been a year. Nothing was going to happen. He had tried going down one with Izzy a few months after it happened, he took five steps in and was sick. He hadn't been down one since. He felt so out of control of his own feelings, he hated it. "Sorry" The words rushed out of Alec's mouth. He looked over at Magnus./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""No need to apologies Alexande-I mean Alec" He gave Alec an apologetic smile, before a look of curiosity appeared on his face. "Alexander is such a beautiful name. why do you prefer Alec, if you don't mind me asking?" Magnus could see Alec thinking, like his mind was trying to work out what the best response was. He noticed he did that a lot. He never said anything without thinking about it first, like he had to check what he was saying was okay./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Why did he hate the name? He never use to, the name use to make him feel special. As he grew up most people just called him 'Alec', only using 'Alexander' if he was in trouble or his parents were out in public trying to impress someone. After 'it' happened the name had a sour taste to it. It no longer has connotations of family and love, now repressing everything his parents had pushed on him. Alexander was who his parents wanted him to be. "My parents call me Alexander" He looked away from Magnus to the floor./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The boy looked away from Magnus, looking down at the floor. There was so much Magnus wanted to know but he decided not to push the shaken boy. The walked for a little longer before Magnus stopped. "Here we are."/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec looked up the Café, Magnus walked forward and pulled open the door gesturing for Alec to enter. The pair walked in and up to the counter. Alec noticed there were very few people in the Café, about three groups of people, the majority of them being students. Alec shifted awkwardly./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I'll have a black coffee, Alec?" Magnus turned to face Alec./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Um yeah the same" Alec stuttered, his breathing was starting to relax, the warmth of the shop calming him down. Magnus handed a coffee over to Alec and the pair walked towards the back of the shop finding a small wooden table with two wooden chairs facing each other. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So how are you enjoying New York?" Magnus stirred his coffee and looked up at Alec./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Its okay, I haven't had much of a chance to see it yet" Alec had looked around a bit before he came but gave up deciding the place was too busy./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I grew up in Brooklyn so I know the area pretty well" Magnus took a sip of his coffee. He didn't pushed Alec for information, Alec took a sip of his own coffee, setting it down on the table. He looked at Magnus, the boy was staring at his own drink./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I grew up in Washington" Alec blurted out, Magnus looked up from his drink, surprised that Alec was sharing information. He gave Alec a reassuring smile. Magnus was about to say something when Alec carried on./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Thanks for the notes again, I-I really appreciate it" He took another sip of his drink, Magnus gave him a smile, Alec returned one./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So how you are enjoying the class, I mean we've only had one but?" Magnus trailed off, making a gesture with his hand./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah its-its okay" That was a lie. Alec had barley been in the class and when he was he wasn't truly listening and when he did start to listen he ran out of the class to be sick./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"There was a pause, "So not a big fan of blood I'm guessing?" He sounded timid, like he was unsure whether to ask./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec looked up from the table, Magnus was holding his coffee in front of him, his hands wrapped around the warm drink. "I-Its just-It makes me" Alec's mind flashed back to the image on the board; the blood, the man, the smell. Alec shook his head, his hands tightening around the coffee cup, he took a breath, trying to relax himself "No, not a fan" He took a sip of his drink, his hands still gripping the cup./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Neither am I to be honest, but I suppose if you want to be a lawyer you've got to get use to looking at gory images" Magnus was write. Growing up Alec and Isabelle were never allowed in their father's office, always told it was a place for adults. Alec remembered once when he was little, trying to find his father and going into the office. There was a large board covered in pictures and information. A young woman lying in a room, her body littered with cuts and stab wounds, Alec could barley see her skin as it was covered in blood. His father scolded him for entering the office, Alec never went in there again. He knew it was part of the job, having to look at evidence photos, graphic descriptions of death and violence. Alec tried not to think about it./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah, I suppose" He would have to find away to look at evidence photos without nearly passing out./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So what made you want to me a criminal defence lawyer then?" Magnus took a finale sip of his drink and placed it down on the table. He looked interested, like he actually wanted to know about Alec's life. Why was he interested in criminal law? Short story; he wasn't. Growing up Alec never really had a choice. He learned from a very young age that he had a duty to fulfil. Alec always thought about rebelling, doing his own thing, but what was that? He had never thought about himself and what he wanted. After everything that happened last year, Alec gave up. He decided to fall in line and do what he was told./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Kind of of a...family thing" A waitress came over and refilled Magnus coffee, toping up Alec's as well./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Family thing?" He raised his eyebrow at Alec, unsure what Alec had meant by the comment; criminal defence lawyer isn't usually a 'family business'/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Long story" It was short and brief but told Magnus a lot. Alec clearly didn't like talking about his family, in partially his parents. Alec looked back down at the table "...wh-what about you?"/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Well I love arguing with people and being theatrical so I thought why not get paid to do it" Alec felt a smile appear on his face, followed by a small laugh./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""That's better" Magnus grinned, resting his elbows on the table./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""What?" Alec raised his head, the small grin still on his face./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Your smiling, don't get to see it very often" Magnus was right. Alec couldn't remember the last time he truly smiled, he didn't have much to smile about to be honest./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Kind of been a stressful week" Alec reached his hand up and rubbed the back of his neck./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Moving all the way from Washington to New York, leaving your family and friends, must be tough?" Magnus gave a sympathetic smile towards Alec./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Uhh yeah." Alec had a lot of conflicting feelings about leaving. One the one hand he was able to get away from everything, have a chance to start fresh, but there was something he was leaving behind... "My sister"/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Pardon?"/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""It-uhh-its hard being away from my sister" It was true. There was a lot that Alec didn't miss about Washington, Izzy however, was one thing he did./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I didn't now you had a sister?" Magnus titled his head to the side, clearly/span /spanspan class="apple-converted-space" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /span /spanspan class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"intrigued/span /spanspan class="apple-converted-space" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /span /spanspan class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"by the information./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah, yeah she's 16. She lives up in Washington with my parents. Studying to be a doctor" Alec didn't usually offer up information about his family, but he strangely felt comfortable around Magnus. /span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Wow, a lawyer and a doctor. Your parents must be proud" Magnus sounded sincere, leaning back on his chair./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec felt the small smile on his face drop. His parents were proud of Izzy, she was doing incredibly well at school and was going to attend Yale. Alec on the other hand-/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I'm going to take a stab in the dark here and guess you don't partially like talking about your parents?" Magnus spoke softly clearly not wanting to upset Alec. /span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec paused for a second. Magnus wasn't wrong, he didn't like talking about his parents. "It's-Its complicated" He stuttered./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"There was a pause in the conversation, it felt ominous. Alec was looking down at the table, tracing the lines in the wood. "Do they know?" He looked up, Magnus was leaning closer on the table, he had an unsure look on his face./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Know what?" Alec wasn't sure where this was going but he suddenly had a very uneasy feeling in his stomach./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""That your gay?" Alec felt all the heat and warmth leave his body, a cold chill running through him. He moved back from the table, his chair screeching as he stood up. /span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""What?" The word came out breathless, he was shaking his head "Who said-I'm not" Alec looked around, people in the café turning there heads "you-you can't just-"/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hey, hey its okay" Magnus stood up clearly wanting to comfort Alec. He walked around the table towards Alec his hand reaching out-/span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""No, no!" Alec pulled his hands back and stood back. His bad collided with something, he spun around. A small empty coffee table was rocking back and forth. Alec was breathing heavy, he turned back around. Magnus was stood by the table. His face looked worried, he had his hands held out in front of his to show he wasn't going to do anything. Alec looked around him. The few people in the café were looking at the pair. Alec took a breath and walked forward, grabbing his bag off the floor, he looked back up at Magnus. "I-I should go now" He turned around and stated walking towards the exit, he could hear Magnus calling his name, he ignored it./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The cold air hit Alec with force. He powered down the street. What had just happened. The day had gone from okay, to bad, the horrible to good and now all the way back to shit again. Alec just wanted to get home. He didn't even know what he meant by home. Was home in Washington, was it in his apartment with Jace, he didn't know. Alec got back to the apartment and made his way up to the room. He could feel a sweat forming on his forehead. What was Magnus talking about? Alec wasn't-he couldn't. He unlocked the door and came into the room locking the door behind him. Marching over to the bathroom Alec barged in and locked the door, sliding down it./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hey where have you been?" A half sleeping Jace spoke up from the room. "Alec?" He could hear shifting from the room./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah I'm fine, was just out with a friend, go back to sleep Jace" Alec was surprised how confident he sounded. He shakily stood up from the floor and made his way over shower turning it on./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You sure?" Jace's reply was followed by a yawn./span/p  
p class="p2" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah, I'm just going to take a shower then go to bed" Alec had no intention of taking a shower but he needed an excuses to stay in the bathroom. He stood over the sink and looked down. Alec had had some pretty shitty days and today was ranked pretty high on that list. Maybe that was a good thing, everything that could go wrong went wrong today so it could only get better, right? As Alec looked down into the sink he felt a lump forming in his throat, Alec had told himself a lot of lies today, but he was pretty sure this was the biggest one of them all./span/span/p 


	5. Chapter 5

p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec groaned, he could feel an ache starting in his back. He opened his eyes, his head was resting to the side, almost resting on his shoulders. He moved his head slowly, a pain shooting through neck. "Shit" Alec looked around, where the hell was he? Alec blinked a few times trying to focus. A porcelain toilet was across from him. The nights events came flashing back to Alec. After his coffee with Magnus he came back to the room and went into the bathroom. He turned the shower on for a bit before turning it off and taking a seat on the floor, trying compose himself before he went back out to the bedroom, he must of fallen asleep on the floor. He slowly stood up and walked around the bathroom; Magnus. He splashed some water on his face. How had yesterday gone so bad, his coffee with Magnus had started good, he was enjoying it, Magnus seemed like a nice guy and then he had to go and say that. Alec gripped the sink. It wasn't true, Alec had already screwed enough things up back home, he wasn't about to screw more up-it didn't matter any way because it wasn't true, Magnus didn't know what he was talking about. Alec took a breath and open the bathroom door. Jace was wrapped up in his sheets, still asleep./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec stands still in bedroom, he didn't have any classes today which he was thankful for. He walked over to his dresser and grabbed a pair of black Nike joggers and a grey Henley top. Alec walked back into the bathroom and had a quick shower before getting changed. Alec stepped out of the bathroom, Jace was standing in the room, a pair of grey joggers on, pulling over a white top. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hey man" He pulled the top over and ruffled his hair, it not jelled back like usual./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hey" Alec walked over to his desk, flopping down into one of the seats./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Shouldn't you be in class by now"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec looked over at the clock on his desk; 8:30am. "Haven't got class today" And Alec was glad of it, by the time he has gone for coffee and gotten home it was around 1:30. He stayed in the bathroom for a further 20minutes before he feel asleep on the floor./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Same here, thinking of just relaxing for the day" Jace laid back on his bed, grabbing his phone off the side./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Same" It was true, although Alec had notes today for class he couldn't bring himself to look at the text book Magnus had given him. He just wanted to forget all about yesterday, the whole horrible day./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So how was your friend?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hu?" Alec realised he was just staring at his desk, he stood up and walked over to his bed, sitting on he edge/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Last night? Said you were coming back from a friends" Jace moved on his bed, sitting on the side with his legs hanging over./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Ohh ye-yeah it was, um it was good thanks" Alec nodded and stood up, he had moved seats at least three times in the last minute./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hey I was about to go shot some hoops down at the courts, wanna come?" Jace stood up from his bed and grabbed a basketball he had under the bed. He was throwing the ball from hand to hand looking at Alec, a hopeful smile on his face./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Umm..." Alec shifted on his feet-/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Oh come on, it will be fun!" Jace threw the ball throw the air towards Alec whom caught it. "Can be a good room mate bonding experience, I promise I'll go easy on you!" He held up his hands in mock defences./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Go easy one me?" Alec threw the ball back to Jace./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Well I've been known to be a amazing shot" Jace gave a cocky smile before turing and placing the ball in a bag./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Pretty confident hu?" Alec gave a small laugh, walking towards the door./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Loser gets lunch?" Jace picked up his bag and started to follow Alec out of the room./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec turned to look at Jace, the boy was stood next to Alec but giving him some space, clearly he had picked up on the fact that Alec doesn't partially like close contact. Alec give a small smile at the gesture "Sure, and don't worry, I'll pick somewhere cheap"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Now who's the confident one?!" Jace gave a loud laugh and shock his head, Alec joined in with the laugh./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The pair walked out of the room and down the stairs. It was only a short distance to the courts so they walked in silence, Jace sending a few texts on his phone. After a few minutes Jace shoved the phone in his pocket, pointing to a patch of large grass in the distance. "Courts are just down here" Alec nodded back. "So first one to 10 points is the winner?" Jace held out his hand to shake, Alec looked down at it before grabbing it and shaking back. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Sure"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"The ball shot through the air before colliding with the board behind the next and dropping down into the next hitting the ground with a thud. "Shit!" Jace yelled, grabbing the ball before it rolled away. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec gave a small laugh, running his hand through his hair "Not sounding so confident anymore"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Hey!" Jace threw the ball back at Alec, pointing at him "You've still got to score two points to win"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I'm thinking burger for lunch" Alec mocked as he dribbled the ball./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Shut up and take the shot" Jace was laughing and so was Alec./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"A few minutes later the ball went through the hoop again, Alec grabbed it and threw at back at Jace who was scowling at him./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Okay, how the hell are you this good?" Jace grabbed the ball and put it back in his bag, grabbing a bottle of water and taking a drink, throwing it at Alec who took a large chug. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Oh I use to play a lot as a kid, me and my brother would spend all out times at the courts" Before Alec could even process what he said Jace spoke up, a confused tone in his voice./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You've got a brother?" Alec froze, the heat he had gathered from playing basketball had all but disappeared, a cold chill settled over him, he slowly closed his eyes. Shit. Alec still had his back facing Jace, to scared to turn back round to face him, unsure of what his face would give away. This is why he didn't let his guard down, why he always had to think about what he said because when he didn't he slipped up, and this was a big one. He tried to remind calm, knowing freaking out would not help him get out of the situation. He slowly turned around to Jace. The boy was standing there, a perplexed look on his face./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Uhh" Alec opened his mouth to say something and then realised he had nothing to say, he didn't know what to say, what could he say? 'No I don't have a brother', ' I did have a brother but then I-' Alec could could feel a small lump forming in his throat. Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut, today had been a good day, Alec hadn't thought about the events of yesterday all day. A high pitched voice pulled him out of his thoughts./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Jace!" Both boys looked around to see a short, red hair girl walking towards them. Her hair was a colour that Alec had never seen before, almost the colour of fire. Alec shifted his eyes form Clary to look at Jace, his face had almost turned the same colour as Clary's hair, this was clearly the girl Jace had spoken about the other day./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Clary?" Jace's voice gave a small crack and he quickly cleared his throat, Alec looked back at Clary. The girl was running over to the pair, her long hair bouncing as she went./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You guys look like your having fun?" She walked onto the courts, placing her bad down next to her./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Oh ye-yeah we were just um shooting some hoops" Jace gave a small stutter at the start and shifted on his feat, Alec couldn't help but give a small smile. He had never seen Jace awkward, it was slightly amusing./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Who won?" She gave a large open smile, she seemed like a nice girl./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Before Jace would speak up, Alec found himself interrupting. "-Jace, he kicked my ass" Jace turned to look at Alec, raising his eye brows at Alec's obvious lie, Alec had kicked Jace's ass. Alec just gave Jace a smile before Jace turned back towards Clary./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Oh Clary this is my room mate Alec, Alec this is Clary" The girl held out her hand, the large smile on her face, Alec reached out and shock it./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Nice to meet you Alec"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Same"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So I was just passing and thought I'd come by and ask if you wanted to come to this party I'm having this weekend? If you want to off course, I get if your bust-" The girl started to ramble clearly nervous before Jace piped up./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""No, no, yeah that sounds fun, I'll be there-we'll be there!" Jace slapped the side of Alec's arm, giving him a wide smile. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Um-I'm not-" Alec took a step back from the pair, holding his hands up. "Parties aren't really my-"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""We'll be there" Jace interrupted forcefully, giving Alec a stern look. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Well its Friday, starts at 8pm" She reached down into her bag and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, scribbling down something before pacing it over to Jace, tucking behind a piece of her hair."Heres the address" Jace looked down at the note before putting it back in his bag, zipping it up./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Thanks, I'll see you around Clary" Jace gave her a smile, running his hand through his hair./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""See ya Jace" She returned his smile and grabbed her bag off the floor walking away from the boy, not without a finale glance at Jace. Jace continued to look at the girl as she walked away, almost entranced. Jace finally pulled his eyes away from the girl and looked over at Alec who was looking at Jace with a smile on his face, a small laugh./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""What?" Jace ran his hands through his hair pulling his bag off the floor./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Nothing, nothing" Alec handed the water bottle back to Jace who shoved it back into his bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder and the boys started to walk away from the courts. After a few moments of silence Jace spoke up./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Why did you tell her I won?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Why did he tell Clary Jace had won? Alec hadn't had many friends back home, I mean he had people he hung out with but he wouldn't call them friends. They were the children of people that his dad wanted to impress, or people that wanted to work with Alec's dad do tried to be nice to Alec. Jace was neither of them, he seemed to want to be friends with Alec because he wanted to. Wether Jace would admit it or not he was clearly smitten with this Clary girl. "Looked like you could use the help?"He could hear Jace laugh to him before he turned and faced Alec./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So burger place for lunch?" As on que Alec's stomach started to rumble, he hadn't eaten much over the last two days. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Sure, can grab some on the way back to the room?" Alec really did not feel like sitting in a room full of stranger, still slightly on edge from previous events./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Luckily Jace didn't argue "Yeah, sounds good" The boys walked down the road towards the burger joint. As they walked Alec found his mind wondering. Jace hadn't said anything about what Alec said on the courts, was he going to? Alec could feel a small ball of anxiety start to build in his stomach./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""-So i'm running down the road, the dogs still caching me and my phone is blowing up!" The boys walked back into the room, bags of food in each hand. Jace threw his sports bag onto the floor, climbing onto his bed and taking his food out of the bag. Alec wasn't entirely sure what Jace was talking about, his mind had wondered on the way back to the room. It wasn't because he didn't enjoy Jace's company, it was quite the opposite. Jace made him feel relaxed, happily talking about himself rather than making Alec talk about his life."Okay lets have lunch then I'll finish the story" Jace opened the box and grabbed the burger from it, clearly excited for it. Although Alec was hungry the ever present feeling of anxiety had slight swayed his appetite. Alec opened his bag and grabbed the box of chips he had gotten. /span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""So hows your sister doing?" Jace was finishing the last bit of his burger, putting the empty box back in the bag./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Izzy, yeah she's doing good, think she's coming to visit soon" Izzy had mentioned (several times) that she was going to come visit at the first opportunity she got./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Must be excited for that!" Jace balled the bag up and throw it to the bin the the corner, the bag circling the edge before going in. Alec heard Jace mutter something under his breath a long the lines of 'why couldn't I do that earlier' Alec gave a small smile./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah, will be nice to see her" Alec felt something tug at his heart, he did miss Izzy. It had only been two days but Alec had never really spent time away from her. Sure, he didn't always go seeking her when they lived together but just having her in the house with him made him feel relaxed./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""What about your parents?" Jace stood up from the bed and grabbed his desk chair, he rolled the chair to the end of Alec's bed, his feet resting on the end of Alec's bed./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah, I'm-I don't think there visit" Alec shifter on his bed, moving his bag of chips to the side. Alec looked up from the bed and looked at Jace, he had a confused look on his face "Were not that close" Alec muttered./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I'm sorry to hear that" Jace replied sympathetically "any reason?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec had to stop himself from laughing at that question, there were a thousand reason why him and his parents weren't close; some there fault some his, the major one being his."Its-its kinda complicated" Which was true, over the last year Alec's life had become very complicated./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Well at least this is a fresh start right? I mean you can start a new life?" Alec could tell Jace was trying to lighten the mood./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah, thats why I came" Half true; Alec had moved to New York to get away from everything at home but it wasn't the whole reason. He was set to attend Harvard like his father, he had straight A's in all his classes, even his AB classes. Alec's GPA was a solid 4.08, above the average for Harvard, he just needed one more thing to get in, a good SAT score. For Harvard you need a 2260, Alec was on track for this, then it happened. After it happened everything was thrown off for Alec, he couldn't focus on work and struggled to even be in school. He completely tanked the SAT's, even his dad's 'connections' could not grant him a place. "Things-things kinda got...overwhelming back home so I decided to come here, fresh start like you said" Alec stood up from the bed, choosing to sit down on his desk chair facing Jace "but...I dunno it just doesn't seem to be going that way at the moment" Yesterday defiantly was not a good inclination of what was to come./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""You've only been here what; two, three days? Just give it some time." Jace had taken his feet off the bed, resting his arms on his legs. He was leaning forward looking at Alec, his hands fidgeting nervously, just like Alec did. "Ma-maybe it might help to talk about it?" Alec leaned back in his chair "If you want to of course?" Alec looked at Jace, he was clearly nervous, like he was worried he would upset him. Alec never really spoke about it, sometimes Izzy would bring it up, wanting him to talk about it but Alec would either leave for change the subject, she never really pushed; the subject to raw for her. His parents had tried to get him to attend therapy for a short time but it didn't last. Alec would just sit in the sessions and not speak, refusing to answer any questions. His parents gave up and decided it wasn't worth the money. Alec looked up from his lap, Jace was still looking at him, his expression soft, Alec wanted to trust him, he really did but there was a part of him that couldn't, not with everything, the fear of Jace knowing what he had done./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""I'm adopted." Alec was pulled out of his thoughts. Jace was looking at Alec, he had a look that Alec had never seen before on Jace; Vulnerable. "I lost my father when I was 10, went to live with this family I knew, I was a real pain in the ass and kinda struggled but eventually I learned to trust them." Alec understood what Jace was doing. He was sharing something personal and close to him, trying to make Alec feel more comfortable. Jace had emphasised the 'trust' part, clearly trying to tell Alec he could trust him, could he though? Alec took a large breath, he could already feel a lump forming in his throat. He pulled his hands into his lap, fidgeting with his hands./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Earlier" Alec paused trying to think of what to saw. His fidgeting hands became to shake, "When I said me and brother use to play" He felt sick just saying the word 'brother' a wave of fresh guilt washed over him, he tightened his grip on his hands./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yesterday you said it was just you and your sister?" Jace's voice was quite, he was leaning forward in his chair./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah it is, but It wasn't always" Alec could feel fresh tears pricking the side of his eyes, his vision slightly blurring, he took a large breath "...I had a little brother" Alec's voice slightly broke at the end. As Alec spoke images started to appear in his mind, little max dressed in his new uniform, his big wide grin filling his face, god how he missed that smile./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Jace was silent for a moment, Alec tried to blink away the tears that had gathered in the corner of his eyes, looking up at the celling. "Shit Alec, I'm-I'm so sorry-I-" He could hear the sympathy in Jace's voice, a slight hint of guilt. "What-what happened?" Alec was still looking up at the celling while Jace was talking. He looked back down at Jace's last question; What had happened. Alec instinctively shock his head, he couldn't do it. It had taken Alec six hours at the police station to finally tell them what happened and after he threw up for another two. Jace seemed to understand. "You don't have to tell me." There was no anger or betrayal in his voice, just acceptance. Alec untangled his hands from his lap and looked at Jace giving him a thankful smile. Jace looked like he was going to say something when a buzzing noise filled the room; Alec's phone. He quickly stood up and grabbed the phone out of his pocket. Jace moved back in his chair, rolling it back towards his desk. Alec looked down at the caller./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Izzy hey" Alec tried to add some joy back into his voice but it seemed to fall flat./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""How you doing big brother?" Alec could hear talking and chatting in the background, Izzy must be in school./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Good, good, how about you?" Alec was walking around the room, his back towards Jace who was now seated on his own bed./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Good! So I was just ringing to say that I'll be coming up this weekend" Izzy gave a small squeal at the end, clearly excited./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Really! Thats- thats quick!" Alec knew his sister was going to come visit but he didn't think it would be this soon. Maybe seeing Izzy would help calm his nervous./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah well I miss you brother!" She gave a small laugh then went quick, the background noise the only sound "...Theres-theres something else as well" All the excitement had left her voice, it being replaced by nervousness./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec sat on the edge of his bed. "What is it?" Alec felt a cloud of anxiety settle around him./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Izzy seemed to take a breath before carrying on "Mom and dad are coming" There was a silence afterwards, neither saying anything./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""What?" The only words Alec could muster. Why would his parents becoming to see him, what could they want?/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah, mom's got a conference up in New York so they said that they will come visit on Saturday, all go out for a family meal" There was a slight hesitation on the word family, it had been there since last year. Neither Izzy or Alec liked to say the word, it having a sour taste to it./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Uhh yeah-th-that sounds good." Alec whipped a hand down his face, it going round the rub the back on his neck. "I'll see you then Izzy" Alec pulled the phone from his ear and hung up, throwing the phone on top of the nightstand. The phone landed with a loud thud, Jace looked up from his bed./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Everything good?"/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Yeah it was my sister, she's coming up this weekend" Alec tried to focus on this, the positive. He was going to see Izzy again and get to spend time with her. He raised from the bed and grabbed the phone off the nightstand, shoving it into his pocket./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Thats good!" Jace sounded excited for Alec, leaning forward on the bed./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""-and my parents" Alec's tone was flat and empty, void of any emotion; something he had perfected over time./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""...Really?" Jace seemed hesitant, unsure how to react./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec just nodded unsure what to say to Jace. His parents were coming. Never in a million years did Alec thing his parents would come to see him, they had finally got rid of him. Alec sat on the edge of his bed, he wasn't sure what to do. It was only Tuesday but Alec could feel his anxiety for the weekend already showing its head. /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"His parents were coming. /p 


	6. Chapter 6

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec scribbles down notes from the large whiteboard, the only sound filling is the scratching of pens and pencils on paper, the teachers voice chipping in occasionally. Luckily classes no longer consisted of graphic images to which Alec was grateful for. Alec finished writing his sentence and placed his pen down. He used his palm to rub his eyes, he hadn't got much sleep the night before still thinking about his parents, he tried to push it to the back of his mind. He had spent his sleepless night catching up on the notes he had missed. He was determined to get back on track, he had set aside time to do his notes and revision making sure he was ahead of the learning. Alec was looking at the board, the slide filled with information, Alec was trying to keep his eyes stuck on that but they kept trailing down towards the boy sat in front of him; Magnus. Today Magnus hair was stuck up, the ends dipped a dark red. He had a silky blue top that hung loosely on him. Alec looked back down at his notes. The lesson continued and after what seemed like a lifetime finally finished. Alec stood up in is chair putting his notepad back in his shoulder bag, pulling out a similar notepad. He shuffled out of his chair and walked down the step. He paused before placing the book on Magnus desk, careful to avoid his eye line./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thanks for the notes" With that Alec turned and hurried down the steps. He had a plan. He needed to get back on it; qualifications, job, family. What his parents wanted. Alec's hand gripped the strap of his bag. He had promised he would fulfil it, he owed it to them to the family. Alec was about to walk out of the building when he heard his name being called, he pressed forward./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec!" He looked straight ahead towards the door, he was almost out. A hand gripped his shoulder, Alec spun around, his bag spinning in the air. Magnus quickly backed away from Alec, his hands held up. A look of regret on his face, he stepped back to give Alec room. "Sorry I didn't mean to startle you" Magnus carefully took a step forward./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec retreated, taking a step back. "Is there something I can help you with?" His tone was sharp and factual giving away no emotion./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I just wanted to apologies for the other day I never meant to-" Alec held up his hand cutting Magnus off./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It was a mistake, its fine" Alec turned around to walk away, wanting to escape the conversation./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec-" Magnus almost sounded as if he was pleading with Alec. He reached out to grab Alec but stopped, pulling his hand back./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec took a large breath, he had to do it. This wasn't part of his plan. "Magnus I really appreciated your help with the notes but I don't really have time for this, goodbye." With that Alec spun around and walked around. He pushed the double doors open and walked forward. A unsettling feeling had appeared in his chest. He looked over his shoulder. Magnus was stood behind the double doors. Alec quickly looked back around. He looked up to the sky. Magnus wasn't part of the plan. Alec kept repeating the plan over in his head; qualifications, job, family. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Again; qualifications, job, family. Alec said it over and over on the way back to his room, hoping it would stop the unsettling feeling in his chest. It didn't./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec grabbed the keys from his black jean, he placed them into the door walking into the room. Jace was sat at his desk; books and notes spread out in front of him. He turned around at the sound of the door. "Hey!" He spun around in his chair to face Alec/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alright" Alec mumbled. He let his bag fall from his shoulder and walked over to his desk opening his laptop./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He could hear Jace moving around behind him, In the corner of his eye Alec could see Jace taking a seat on the edge of his bed, leaning back on his arms. "So I was thinking about Clary's party"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec sighed, he had hoped that Jace wouldn't bring it up again. Partying wasn't going to get him qualifications. "What about it?" Like when he talked to Magnus his voice was blunt./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well I was thinking her apartment is about 5 minutes away so we-" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""We?" His voice was sharp and cold like a shard of glass./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes 'We', its used by a speaker to refer to himself and one or more other people considered together." Jace's voice was laced with sarcasm. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I know what it means!" Alec snapped, he just wanted to get ahead on his notes./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"There was a pause then a large breath from Jace "Yeah so we; me and you should leave-"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm not going-" Alec hoped that would be the end of it however Jace had other ideas./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes you are" His voice was firm./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec spun around in his chair to face Jace "Just because you want to go so you can get laid by the red head doesn't I have to go!" His voice was laced with venom, Alec hated himself for what he said. The shock in Jace's face was evident. Alec could feel regret and shame filling him. He looked away and turned back towards his computer./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Okay I'm just going to pretend you didn't say that" Jace's voice was surprisingly calm, Alec had expected him to yell and shout. Suddenly Alec felt his chair being turned around. He tried to grab onto the desk but Jace was to quick, he was soon facing Jace, he looked down towards the floor. "You're clearly stressed about your parents coming-" Alec's head shot up but before he could interpreted, Jace carried on "Thats why you spent all night doing notes and are acting like a dick now" There was some anger in the last part of the sentence./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm not acting-"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yes you are Alec, but luckily I'm going to forgive you but only if you come to Clary's party and have fun." Alec was still looking at the floor. Why couldn't Jace just leave him alone, thats what he wanted. Alec heard Jace sigh from the bed, he looked up. "Look it might help get your mind off your parents and whatever else is bothering you"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jace-"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec" There was a pause in the room. The boys just staring at each other. He hated parties, lots of people and noise. He was pretty sure his parents plan didn't include parties. Alec thought about what Jace said 'Take his mind of his parents' Just the thought of his parents made his hands feel slightly sweaty and make his heart raise. Maybe a small drink would help./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""One drink" His voice was stern, Jace's face light up and wide smile on his face./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Thats the spirt!" He gave Alec a pat on the shoulder and go up off the bed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"*******/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The next few days came and went. Alec went to class, did his notes, went back to the apartment and studied. Alec kept his head down in class trying to blend in. On Thursday he and Jace went down to the courts for some game, Jace saying it would help relax him. Alec had been incredibly tense over the last few days, his parents visit growing closer. Jace seemed to understand this, Magnus on the other hand didn't. He tried to talk to Alec after class on Wednesday but Alec had made up some excuse and left not giving Magnus a chance to reply. For the next two days he actively avoided Magnus, choosing to sit somewhere different in class. He hated acting this way towards Magnus, he had done nothing wrong but Alec had to focus on his plan and sadly Magnus was not a part of that no matter how much Alec wanted him to be, not that he did of course. Before Alec knew it Friday had arrived, the night of Clary party. Alec had had class in the morning and then hit the courts with Jace for a bit. They had both came back to the apartment and ordered some Pizza before starting to get ready./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""One drink remember" Alec reminded Jace as he grabbed some clothes from his bed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yep, one drink" Jace turned around and gave Alec a wink./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec sighed "This is so going to bite me in the ass" He muttered before going into the bathroom for a quick shower. He stepped into the warm water and tired to relax. Maybe the party wouldn't be to bad, maybe there wouldn't be many people and it would be quite. Alec had to stop himself from laughing. it was a university party, it was going to be loud and busy; two things Alec hated. He got out of the shower and grabbed his towel drying himself before grabbing his clothes; a pair of black jeans and a black long sleeved top. Alec stepped out, Jace was standing in front of the mirror which hung off the wall. He was holding up two shirt./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Blue or Black?" Jace spoke, still looking into the mirror. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec gave a quick look before sitting down on his bed starting to pull his black boots on. "Do I look like a fashion expert?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Just pick?!" Jace cried, clearly annoyed at Alec./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Fine! Blue!" Jace held the blue one up and looked at it. After a second he threw it onto the bed and started to put the black shirt on. He turned to Alec who was giving him a glare. Jace just grinned, walking over to his desk grabbing a watch off the top. "Were leaving in ten minutes, go get ready" He demanded./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec finished lacing his shoes, standing up "I am?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jace stopped, looking at Alec "No your not" Alec went to protest when Jace walked towards him "Were going to a party not class!" Alec rolled his eyes and walked over to his wardrobe. He pulled open the doors and looked inside. After a moment he pulled out a denim shirt; a dark navy colour. He stomped off to the bathroom like a annoyed child being dragged around by his parents. He put the top and and came back out./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Better?" Jace just looked at him, tilting his head to the side./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He started to walk towards Alec "Do you have anything that isn't dark?" Alec rolled his eyes again, he had a feeling he would be doing this a lot tonight./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Can we just go and get this over with" Alec moaned, he wasn't even at the party and he already hated it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Fine, just-" Jace paused still looking at Alec. Alec looked up to the celling and suddenly felt a hand wrapped around his wrist, he violently pulled his hand away, hugging it to his chest protectively. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""What the hell do you think your doing!" He screamed at Jace, still clutching his wrist. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Whoa I was just going to roll the sleeve up" Jace had taken a few steps back, he face looked guilty, the playful smile from his face gone. "Sorry I didn't mean-" He took a step forward towards Alec/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Before Alec could stop himself the words rushed out of his mouth "Don't do that again" It wasn't a question but a demand./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jace didn't move from his spot, he gave Alec a nod. Neither moved or said anything, an awkward tension filling the room. Alec finally let go of his wrist and headed towards the door "Lets get this over with"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The walk to Clary's apartment was short, they arrived just after 8 and the party was already in full swing. As Alec walked through the apartment door he was greeted by a wave of people, the music loud and thumping. The pair pushed through the crowd, Alec could feel his heart beat starting to quicken, he hated crowds. The lights were low making it even more difficult to see, Alec sighed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""At least try to have fun" Jace yelled over the music./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Jace!" A loud high pitched voice greeted Alec, Clary was walking towards the pair, a pair of black jeans and a black top with translucent lines crossing it./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey!" Jace stepped forward to greet the girl, the pair exchanging a hug./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Glad you came!" Clary beamed, looking up and down at Jace. She turned to face Alec "Alec nice to see you again!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec gave her a small nob, a small headache starting to form from the loud music, he could hear Clary and Jace talking next to him, he looked down and tried to concentrate on his shoes. Why had he agreed to this./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Clary!" Another loud voice came, Alec looked up to see a boy pushing his way towards Clary, short brown hair and black framed glasses./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Clary stepped back from Jace and waved to the the boy "Simon! Over here!" The boy spotted her and started to walk over. Clary reached out her hand and grabbed hold of Simon pulling him into the group. Alec looked over at Jace, a annoyed glare had washed over his face. Simon came over and stood next to Clary, Alec was certain if he stood any closer he would be sat on top of her. "Um Alec, Jace this is my best friend Simon!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Nice to meet you guys!" Simon held out his hand, after a small pause Jace shock it, he motioned his hand towards Alec, who reluctantly returned the shake. "So whats your major?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""History" Jace replied, his tone flat./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Criminal Defence" Alec's replied with a hint of annoyance. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm doing Tech, I know that sounds super nerdy but trust me its not-well it kinda is but-" The kid rambled on about his class for what seemed like forever, after that he started to talk about films and to everyones surprise it turned out Jace and Simon liked the same films. They started to talk about something but Alec zoned out, at some point simon had gotten the boys some drink, some sort of beer or cider, Alec wasn't sure./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""-And then the screen fades to dark, I mean incredible ending right!" Alec came back just as Simon was finishing his story. Alec downed the reminder of his drink turing to Jace./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I've had one drink" He said matter of factually/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh come on Alec!" Jace sighed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Whats the problem" Clary looked at the pair, clearly not understanding what was going on./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Lightwood here is being boring-" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""-I'm not being boring I just-" Before Alec would make his argument, Simon stepped forward a shocked look on his face./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Wait did you say Lightwood?" Alec looked from Jace to Simon. Simon was just starting at Alec when suddenly his face lit up in excitement "Ho-Holy crap Alec Lightwood-your Alexander Lightwood, your dad is Robert Lightwood!" Crap. Alec looked up at the celling then back at Jace, a annoyed scowl on his face, Jace mouthed the word 'sorry' to Alec./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm sorry who?" Clary replied, pushing a piece of fiery red hair out of her face./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh only one the most furious, scariest, smartest defence lawyers!" Simon was making large motions with his hands, a wide smile on his face. Of course this kid knew about his dad, it was just Alec's luck./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I didn't know you knew about the law" Clary laughed, clearly impressed by Simons knowledge./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You don't need to know about the law to know Robert Lightwood! He's defended some of the most evilest criminals alive." Alec felt his stomach cheern, it was true, his dad was known for defending some of the sickest people alive, people that had done things of nightmares, some had been put away, some her had gotten free. Alec wondered how his dad slept at night, probably like Alec did; filled with guilt. "You should watch him in court its-its amazing! His winning rate is one of the best, he-"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Simon why don't you go grab Clary another drink?" Jace replied, looking between Alec and Simon. Jace had clearly picked that Alec was not comfortable talking about his dad, probably remembering his conversation from yesterday. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Simon didn't answer, still looking at Alec like he wanted to say something, Clary nudged her elbow and Simon reacted, stepping back into the crowd. "Ohh ye-yeah sure, I'll be right back!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""It literally never stops talking" Alec mumbled. He wanted to leave, now./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I haven't even given you guys the tour yet!" Clary was looking at the boys with a wide smile, clearly trying to lighten the mood. Before Jace could reply Alec spoke up./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""You guys go ahead, I'm going to go grab a drink" With that Alec walked off to find alcohol. Alec reached a table full of drink. He picked up a bottle of something and poured it into a cup taking a sip./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec!" Simon was walking over, Alec was about to leave but Simon caught up before he could. "Sorry about rambling about your dad its just he's so fascinating, the stories he must tell you-" Simon stopped talking, his child like excitement gone, it was replaced by a look Alec had seen many times over the last year; pity "Listen what happened last year with your broth-"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Before simon could finish Alec held his hand up "Don't" he snapped. Simon closed his mouth, sympathy still in his eyes. Alec chugged the last of his drink and picked up another one walking away from Simon. Of course he knew about that to, the kid seemed to know everything. Alec found a empty chair and sat down. He pulled out his phone and took a swig of his drink. He played some crap game on his phone and drank, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. After a while he finished his drink, he walked over to get another one. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He wasn't sure how it happened but some how he ended up chatting to some girl from his class, she was talking about her family and hobbies, twirling her blond hair around her fingers. Alec had by now had a few drinks, slightly swaying on his feet. The girl was smiling up at Alec, her eyelashes fluttering. She passed him another drink and carried on her story. Alec continued to drink when a familiar voice spoke up from behind him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Well I didn't expect to see you here" Alec turned around to see Magnus stood behind him. He was dressed in Black jeans and a dark purple shirt, embedded with golden swirls, the top three of four buttons were undone exposing his chest. He had a golden silk scarf hanging from his neck./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Magnus!" Alec yelled, he slightly unsteadily walked away from the girl towards Magnus. "What are you doing here!" He yelled once he reached him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Its a party, I'm always at them!" Magnus joked, the dim light catching his eyes. Alec's heart speed up, not from anxiety this time but something different./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Right, right!" Alec stuttered, taking a sip from his bottle./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I didn't take you for the party type?" Magnus replied smoothly, his voice like silk./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'-I'm not but Jace made me come because he wants to get in Clary's pants" Alec took another sip of his drink, he blinked a couple of times to try and clear his slightly blurred vision./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Magnus gave a loud laugh, a large grin following "Your even cuter when you're drunk?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I'm not drunk!" A small hiccup followed Alec's answer, completely undermining his protests./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Sure!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I am not, look!" Alec closed his eyes and used his free hand to point to his nose, trying to prove his soberness, it took him a few seconds but eventually he got there. He opened his eyes to see Magnus grinning at him. Alec had missed his smile. "You know I've never seen anyone wear as much as glitter as you!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I would hope not!" Magnus laughed./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec looked at Magnus "It looks good" He observed the golden glitter that was covering Magnus eyes./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Does it now" A hint of surprise in his voice./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah I like it" Alec announced, he swayed on his feet./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Magnus shook his head, a playful grin on his face. "I'll keep that in mind" /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Your very-" Before Alec could finish something collied into his side, it sent him crashing to the floor. Alec could hear noise around him and lots of movement. Suddenly Magnus face was inches from him, his grin gone, replaced by a worried look./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec are you okay?!" He reached out and cupped Alec's face like he was checking for injuries./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Yeah, I just-wha-what happened" Alec's head was spinning, his vision slightly blurry. He couldn't really focus on anything. Alec could feel a small sting forming on his left hand, he looked down to where it was. The bottle he was drinking had smashed in his hand, pieces littered on the floor around him. Alec pulled his hand off the floor. Small shards of glass were embedded in his hand, that wasn't what caught his eye thought. In the certain of her palm was a extremely large and deep cut, a blooded shard of glass next to the floor./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec your hand!" Magnus gasped./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The buzz that Alec had been feeling vanished, like someone had throw cold water over him. Expect it wasn't cold water that was currently gushing down his hand; it was blood. Warm, thick, sticky blood. "Oh god" Alec instantly felt sick, he looked up, a crowd had formed around him. The room instantly felt 10 times smaller. Alec looked back down again./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Blood/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec?" Magnus reached out to grab Alec. Alec tried to move away, his put his uninjured hand down to push himself up, his arm gave way but someone grabbed hold of him to stop him crashing to the floor again. Alec tried to push them off. He stumbled forward into a wall. His head was spinning, like he was on spinning tea cups. He turned around, the crowd was still stood there, all eyes on him. He had to get out./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I-I need to-" Alec stuttered and stumbled. He started to push himself through the crowd, there were so many people. Alec felt his chest tighten, breathing becoming harder. He escaped the room and flew down the flight of stairs, nearly tripping over his feat. He crashed out of the building onto the empty street. It was dark, only a few street lights around. He tried to breath but found nothing. The stinging in his hand becoming a throb. He looked back down, under the streetlight Alec could see the real damage. His hand was almost completely red, tracks of blood running down his wrist, he could smell the blood. Alec staggered towards the buildings wall, using his free hand to support himself./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""ALEC!" A voice yelled from behind him, he didn't move. Alec felt his he was spinning, unable to focus on anything. He didn't know where to look or what to do. He could still smell the blood. Alec hunched over and threw up the pizza he had had earlier, his arm that was supporting him began to shake. /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Your fine- your-your going to be fine, I promise" Alec stumbled over his words, pushing down harder on the wound, the blood seeping through his coat onto his hands./span/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec?!" The voice sounded panic, scarred./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec tied to focus on the wall in front of him but it wasn't working. He pushed him self off the wall and stumbled back. A loud crash sounded - /p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"A ear shattering boom rang out on the alley, the sharp noises echoed for a few seconds before silence befall the alley./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec jumped back, spinning around, his back collied with something -/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""LET HIM GO NOW!-LET HIM G-" He was slammed back into the wall, a cold blade being pressed against his neck. Alec froze./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"Alec squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't know what was happening, he looked back down at his hand, the blood still pouring./span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""No, no, no, no, this is-isn's happening" Alec shocked his head, pushing down on the wound which still poured with blood. "MAX! No please do-don't" Alec couldn't breath, he felt as if someone was squeezing his lungs preventing now air from travelling./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""No, no, no, no" Alec was shaking his head, tears had spilled over the edge of his eyes and were running down his cheek. /span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec whats wrong?" The voice sounded closer, a carrying tone -/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Someone call a ambulance" span class="Apple-converted-space" /spanA voice screamed from behind him; a woman. Alec didn't move from his position./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Kid are you okay? A different voice this time; a man./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Alec what happened?" Alec had his eyes shut still, but the voice seemed to be closer again, he backed up against the wall/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Oh my god what happened? The woman screamed, she was clearly distraught./span/span/p  
p class="p1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"span class="s1" style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;""Kid-" Alec felt a hand grab his shoulder trying to pull him back from Max. He spun round and pushed the man off him, "GET OFF ME!"/span/span/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec-" A hand grasped Alec's shoulder-/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""GET OFF ME!" Alec screamed pushing the arm off his shoulder, he fell back against the wall and slid down it crashing onto the floor. His hand was clasped into his chest./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Okay, okay I wont touch you!" Alec had his eyes squeezed shut hopping to escape this nightmare, he didn't know what was happening or going on, the only thing he could register was the blood. Alec felt like ice was running through his veins, he felt trapped, like he was suffocating or was being choked. Alec wanted to get up and run but he couldn't move. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec you need to clam down, you need to breath" The voice was right in front of him now, it was gentle and soft. He felt a hand rest under his chin, he want to move away but he couldn't. The hand tilted his head up. Magnus was looking at Alec, his eyes were wide with alarm./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I-I can't- I-" Alec pulled his head away and looked back down, a wave of sickness came over him. "It wont co-come off-I-I" Alec looked up at the black sky, more tears spilled over the edge, tumbling down his face./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alec I'm going to put this one your cut is that okay?" Alec's chest was hurting, he was hurting all over but at the same time he felt numb. "Alec?"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Alec looked down to see Magnus holding the golden scarf in his hand. Alec nodded unsure if he could produce any words. Magnus careful reached out and wrapped the scarf around his hand. He paused before looking back up at Alec. "I'm going to put pressure on the wound, its probably going to hurt" He was speaking slow and calm. Alec looked down the golden scarf was beginning to become soaked in blood. A hand cupped the side of Alec check bring it back up "Hey, look at me okay? Don't look at the blood look at me" It wasn't demanding, Alec went to move his head when Magnus spoke again "Look at my eyes okay? Just concentrate on my eyes Alexander" Alec did what Magnus said. He looked at Magnus eyes. His eyes almost seemed to be glowing in the night. His pupils were wide and alert. "Just breath"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I-I feel sick" Alec's voice was horse and weak like a small child. The hand cupped Alec's cheek again, brushing away a tear that was trickling down his face./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Hey its fine" Magnus's hand was still cupping Alec's cheek. "Okay, we need to get you to a hospital-" Alec ripped his hand from Magnus hugging it close./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No! No please, don't-don't make me go! Please" Alec pleased, his chest tightening again, all the fear and panic coming back./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Okay, okay shh, hey!" Magnus reached out to grab the injured hand again. He didn't know what to do. Alec should really get his hand seen to, it would probably need stitches or something. He should just tell Alec that he has to go, but he couldn't. Alec looked completely broken, like a scarred child trying to hide from a monster, Magnus sighed "Why don't you come back to mine okay? I live just round the corner i'll clean your hand up and then get you back to your apartment?" Alec didn't move, Magnus carefully reached out and put his hand on Alec's shoulder, not wanting to scare him. "I'm going to help you up okay?" Alec didn't say anything, just giving a small nod. Magnus moved to the side of Alec, taking his uninjured arm and wrapping it around his shoulders. He slowly started to move up from the floor. Once they were standing Magnus took the careful journey back. Alec was incredibly unsteady on his feet, his whole body shaking. Magnus pulled him closer. Once they reached place Magnus quickly unlocked the door still holding onto Alec. They stumbled into the room and reached Magnus bed. He careful put Alec down, kneeling in front of him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Alright so just lie here okay, I'm going to go grab the first aid kit" He made sure Alec was okay and understood then rushed into the bathroom throwing open all the cupboards trying to find the dam medical kit. He pulled everything out until he located the green bag. He tugged it out and started to empty the contents onto the floor. Magnus grabbed badges and antiseptic cream, it wasn't until now that he notices his hands were shaking. He placed the equipment of the floor and breathed. What had just happened. Him and Alec were having a conversation, the first one since Alec had cut off all contact with Magnus, they were joking and Magnus was pretty sure Alec was flirting, then everything went to shit. When Alec stumbled out of the room he chased after him. By the time he got outside he saw Alec struggling to breath and mutter 'no' over and over. Magnus had never been so scared in his whole life, he didn't know what to do. He worked out that Alec was having some sort of panic attack but didn't know how to react. Touching him seemed to make it worse. Magnus ran his hand through his hair before picking up the medical things. When he came back out of the bathroom, Alec was passed out on the bed, his breathing had evened out. Magnus walked over to Alec's side, he carefully pick up his legs which were hanging off the end of the bed and placed them on the bed. He knelt down beside Alec and carefully untied the scarf. Alec's hand was almost completely red. Magnus took the damp cloth and began to clean around the cut. /p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Once it was all clean Magnus could see the injury better, it wasn't as bad as he thought, still a nasty cut but Alec could probably get by without stitches. Luckily all the shards of glass had fallen out of Alec's hand. Magnus looked down at the cut, he still needed to clean it but didn't want to wake Alec. He shakily pressed the damp cloth to the cut. Alec moaned a bit in his sleep but didn't wake, Magnus sighed with relief. He continued to clean the cut until he was certain it was okay. He got a but of the cream putting it on the wound. Alec groaned and shifted on the bed but luckily stayed asleep. He grabbed the badges and started to wrap the wound when he notices some more blood on Alec's wrist. He had forgotten to clean that part, he undid the buttons on Alec's shirt and rolled up his sleeve. Magnus used the cloth to wipe away the left over blood, once the wrist was clear Magnus froze, his shaky hands not moving. He felt a lump begin to rise in his throat. Across Alec's wrist skin were horizontal lines, some were extremely pale and hard to see, others were redder clearly newer ones; maybe a month old, maybe shorter Magnus wasn't sure. He felt tears prick the corner of his eyes, a sense of disappear and fear washed over him./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Oh Alexander" Magnus whispered. "What happened to you?" /p 


	7. Chapter 7

Alec's eyes fluttered opened, immediately closing again as the bright light stung his eyes, sending a wave of pain through his head. Alec groaned before pulling himself up on the bed, the bright red sheets falling around his lap. A wave of dizziness sent him back down, Alec started up at the celling, he brought his right hand up to his face and rubbed his eyes, god his head hurt. He went to push himself up again with his free hand when a crippling pain shot through his body. Alec flew up on the bed, clutching his left hand tight to his chest. He slowly pulled it away and looked down to see a white badged wrapped round his hand, the sleeves of his shirt stained in blood. What the hell happened? Alec shifted on his bed, the red sheets-

Red sheets. Alec had blue sheets. Alec quickly looked around him. This wasn't his room. He jumped off the bed ignoring the pain that caused his head and stood in the room. It was very large, a four post bed stood in the centre, red sheets and cushions covering it, the bed frame made from dark oak. There was a large wooden door, Alec crept forward and lightly pushed opened the door, peaking his head through. It was empty. He quietly walked out into the large open living room. A black leather sofa was located in the middle, book shelfs covering the walls that weren't occupied with paintings. The walls were covered in dark brick, opposite him was a large window, covering a whole wall. The Brooklyn Bridge could be seen in the distance. Alec went to get a closer look when a voice called out from the side of him "Alexander you're awake!" Alec jumped like a scared cat, spinning around to see who was there. Magnus was walking into the room through a arch way, leading into the kitchen. He was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, a long black silk shirt, the top few buttons left undone. His hair and face was void of make-up.

"How are you feeling?" He carefully walked forward, his gel free hair flopping to one side.

"Where are we?" Alec looked around the loft again, he had no memory of coming back here or where even 'here' was.

"My apartment" Magnus offered. He walked up to Alec and seemed to be studying him with his eyes.

Magnus's place? Why was Alec here, more importantly why did he wake up in Magnus's bed. Alec could feel his headache growing. He brought his uninjured hand to rub his forehead.

Magnus was stood in front of him, his head tilted to one side. "What do you remember from last night?" His voice sounded soft and delicate, very unlike Magnus, what had happened to make him sound so nervous.

What did Alec remember? He remembered turning up at the party with Jace and that annoying kid called Simon and then everything goes blurry, like someone had put a wall up in his mind. "Umm, I-I can't remember anything?" His heart started to beat faster, its pace quickening, why couldn't he remember? Was his brain trying to protect him from something? He had blood on his sleeve, he was at Magnus's place, he couldn't remember anything. Alec squeezed his eyes shut hoping something would come back to him. Nothing did. He felt himself stagger backwards, he reach out his hand to clasp the leather sofa, he saw Magnus take a cautious step forward, like he was unsure what to do or what to say.

Magnus give a small smile, something hidden behind it "Thats okay-"

Alec pushed himself off the sofa and walked forward towards Magnus, he needed to know. "What happened?"

Magnus tried to hide the concern and panic from his face. Alec had no memory of the whole incident last night, maybe his mind blocked it, maybe he was to drunk to remember? Magnus bit the front part of his lip, Magnus was afraid of this. Magnus had spent the majority of the night pacing his living room debating what to do, what he should do if Alec didn't remember. He came to the logically conclusion that he should tell Alec, it was the right thing to do, but as Alec stood unsteadily on his feet, his face flushed with fear Magnus couldn't help but doubt himself. He cursed, Alec was clearly shaken and he didn't want to make it worse by causing him to remember last night but as a image of white scars across pale skin flashed up in his mind he knew that he needed to talk to Alec about this. "Maybe we should-" Before Magnus could finish Alec's phone came to life in his pocket, Alec reached in and pulled out his phone, a confused look on his face. across

12 missed calls from Jace. Why was Jace trying to call Alec, he brought the phone up to his face "Jace-"

"Where the hell are you!?" Jace yelled, his voice laced with worry and anger.

Alec pulled the phone away from his ear, the loud noise feeling like a bat to his head "What d-"

"I was looking for you all night and then I woke up this morning and you weren't here!" He could hear Jace breathing hard like he was out of breath, "I went looking for you last night and someone said you took off and there was glass all over the floor and blood everywhere. I went outside and there was blood on the walls and on the streets I-I thought something happened to you! I tried to ring you but you didn't pick up! What the hell happened?!" Jace had finished his rant and was still breathing hard, he could hear movement on the other line like he was pacing. Alec was stood frozen; blood, glass? Alec looked down at his hand, how could Alec not remember what happened?

"I-I don't know I-" Alec felt his chest tighten slightly, the stress starting to get to him, Jace had a million questions and Alec couldn't answer them. He looked around the room to see if there was any evidence of what had happened. The place was spotless, the only out of place thing was him.

"Alec your scaring me man, where are you?" Jace sounded scared, which was something new to Alec, the fear in Jace's voice spread to Alec, he tightened his grip on the phone and turned to face Magnus. He was stood a few feet away, twisting the rings on his finger. Something seem to click in Magnus head, he took a small step forward before reaching out and taking the phone from Alec, his tightened grip instantly loosened when Magnus griped his hand. Magnus placed the phone to his ear and gave Alec a quick smile.

Alec clearly remembered nothing and Jace's (who even that was) questions were just stressing the young boy out. "Hello?"

"Who is this? Wheres Alec?" A aggressive tone shot down the phone.

Usually Magnus wouldn't take that kind of tone from some stranger but he could tell he was just worried about Alec which he understood "I'm Alec's friend; Magnus Bane. Alec had a little to much to drink last night and cut his hand, he's fine I took him back to my apartment to clean his wound and he passed out asleep. He's safe" Magnus turned around to look at Alec who hadn't moved from his spot, he seemed to be starring at the floor in deep concentration.

There was a large sigh "Thank god, he scared the shit outta me" The boy was clearly worried about Alec that much was apparent.

"Yeah, sorry about that one, he's all good though." Magnus pinched the bridge of his nose, 'all good' was the last phrase Magnus would use to describe Alec

"Is he coming back, does he need me to pick him up-"

"No no, I'll look after him its fine." Magnus gave a dramatic wave of his hand

"Okay, just get him to text me when he can, let me know he's alright." The boy sounded very worn out, clearly his worry for Alec had taken a toll on him.

"Will do" With that Magnus hung up, placing the phone on a small sofa chair next to him. He gave a large sigh, now to have a conversation that he really didn't want to have. He turned back round to look at Alec who was still looking down at the floor, his uninjured hand carefully rubbing the bandage, his hand suddenly froze and Alec looked up from the floor, his face was chalk white, his eyes wide like tunnels.

It was if someone had taken a sledge hammer to the wall in Alec's mind, everything came flooding back to him; Magnus, the bottle, his hand, the street. He felt that now familiar sense of dread and humiliation well up inside of his chest "Oh god- I-I-remember-" Alec wanted to hide. He wanted to disappear right now, curl up in a ball and never return.

Magnus started to walk forward, motioning to the sofa behind Alec "Why don't we sit down-"

"There was blood everywhere-" Alec looked back down at his hand, images of blood flowing from the wound consumed his mind, he felt his whole body tense up. He started to back up, the large open room which now seemed like a small box. The back of his legs caught the sofa, he sunk down onto it, squeezing his eyes.

Magnus rushed over towards Alec "Alec please don't do this-"

Alec was looking down at his hand, "I-I couldn't get-"

Magnus knelt down in front of Alec, his voice soft "Hey, hey its fine" he reached out and took hold of Alec's hand, lightly wrapping is own around it "Look at your hand, theres no blood; see?" He lifted the hand up towards Alec to show him the fresh white bandage, Alec looked down at his hand, his face still unsure "Its all good, turns out I'm a fabulous nurse" Alec give a finale look at his hand before looking back up to Magnus. Alec's eyes were shiny from unshed tears, Magnus gave him a warm smile, his hand still wrapped around his Alec's. Magnus was about to move when he heard Alec say something.

"I'm sorry" it was broken and small and made Alec hate himself more.

"Pardon?" the confusion was apparent in his voice.

Alec could feel more tears start to gather in his eyes, he hated it. "I'm sorry for ruining you night and scarf and-" Alec tried to pull his hand away from Magnus but Magnus held his grip, his warm hand surrounding Alec's trembling one.

"Alec-"

"I should of-I'm sorry-I-" Alec felt himself shutting down, he couldn't believe what had happened, this was meant to be a fresh start, he had told himself that so many times and this was the second time he had failed,

"You need to stop apologising for things that aren't your fault" His voice was firm but somehow still soft. He just didn't get it, It was Alec's fault, everything that had happened over the last year was Alec's fault. He could bare to look at Magnus anymore to turned his head away, looking at the floor.

"Alexander, look at me, please." Alec kept his head away, he hated when people saw him like this; vulnerable and weak. Alec was about to stand up when a hand lightly gripped his chin, Alec tried to turn away more but eventual gave up, allowing Magnus to turn his head back towards him. He kept his eyes fixed down, stubbornly avoiding Magnus eyes. Magnus lifted Alec chin up, forcing Alec to look at him. Magnus looked tired, his eyes which usually danced with confidence and joy were now drowning in worry. "You don't need to apologies to me-" Alec went to interrupt when Magnus took his hand from Alec's face and put it around his hand like the other, his two hands now enclosing his injured one. "-You did nothing wrong." He sounded so sure and confident yet he had no idea, no clue what Alec was really running from. Magnus was looking at Alec carefully when he released Alec's hand and brought it back up to his face, cupping his cheek, he paused "I'm not going to hurt you Alec. Ever" He spoke slowly and firm, like it was the most important thing for Alec to understand. Magnus hand didn't move from his cheek as a tear finally made its way down Alec's cheek, crashing into Magnus hand.

"Thank you Magnus" His voice was quite and unsure. His eyes never left Magnus, and neither did Magnus's. The pair just sat in silence for a while, both unsure what to do or say. Over the last year Alec had lost a lot, a list to long to name. Since that day Alec had never felt safe, always looking around him, jumping at any noise. He felt exposed and unsafe, however as he sat on the safe, Magnus knelt in front of him one hand wrapped around his the other on his cheek; Alec felt safe.

The buzzing noise sounded from the sofa chair next to the pair, Magnus slowly pulled his hands away and walked over to the phone picking it up and handing it to Alec.

"Izzy" He carefully stood up from the sofa, walking around towards the large window

"Hey big bro, I am so excited to see you today! I've been thinking about it all week?!" She gave a excited shriek causing Alec to remember his hangover.

Oh crap "Its Saturday" Alec was meant to be going out for a family meal later this evening, it was the last thing Alec wanted to be doing.

"Yeah It is! Were going to leave in about a hour, will take us about four hours to get there so we will probably arrive at about 5pm and then I'll come pick you up at about 6pm?" She rambled off the information giving another squeak at the end of the phone.

"Um yeah that sounds good" Alec leaned the side of his body against the wall, using his hand to rub his head.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah why?" Alec gave a small cough trying to persuade his voice to be more convincing

"You just seem a little off" She had stopped squealing and now had a more concerned tone. He didn't like it when Izzy worried about him, she had another to deal with at school and at home.

"No I'm fine just a little tired" It was true, Alec was tried even though he had slept the whole night he still felt a weight on his across.

"Well get some rest and I'll see you later! "Love you Alec!" Alec gave a little smile, he really did love his sister.

"Love you too Izzy" Alec clicked the phone off and put it into his pocket. He paused before turning around to see Magnus standing by the sofa, twisting the rings on his fingers.

He took a step forward towards Alec "Hows your sister"

"Good, she-she's coming up today; with my parents" Alec felt some tension drip back into his body at the mention of his parents.

"Oh, how nice" Magnus gave a large smile, stopping just in front of Alec.

"Yeah"

Magnus clapped his hands together before turning around and walking back towards the kitchen "Well I could really some coffee and something to eat-"

Alec shifted on his feet and walked away from the window, he looked down at the floor as he passed Magnus "Oh yea-yeah I should get going anyway-"

"-I was going to ask if you wanted some" Alec stopped, he slowly turned around. Magnus was leaning against the door his arms crossed over his chest. Magnus could see the conflicted look on Alec's face. Before Alec could protest Magnus pushed himself off the wall and came towards Alec.

"Look your hungover, some good breakfast and coffee will help?" Alec was looking down at the floor, something Magnus noticed Alec did a lot, like he was trying to hide from the world.

"I don't want to cause anymore trouble" He muttered. Magnus felt his chest ache for Alec. He walked over to him, tilting his head to the side, he wanted to reach out to Alec but didn't know how he would respond.

"Alec, you don't cause me trouble, quite the opposite actually" Magnus gave Alec a little smile and to Magnus surprise Alec returned it, shifting on his feet. Magnus walked back over to the kitchen. "What would you like for breakfast?"

Alec followed behind him "Umm I don't mind, whatever you're having?" The pair walked into the kitchen. It was very large, a white marble island in the centre. Alec carefully took a seat while Magnus walked over to the fridge, pulling out some ingredients.

"Well I'm going to have blueberry pancakes?" He placed them on the side and brushed his hair out of his face.

Alec was playing with his hands nervously "Yeah that-that sounds good" Magnus gave a quick smile before starting work on breakfast. There was a moment of silence before Magnus spoke over his shoulder to Alec.

"So hows the hand feeling?"

Alec looked down at his hand, a small spot of blood had gathered in the centre, he turned his hand around so he couldn't see. "Yeah its good thanks, thanks for sorting it out" Magnus continued cooking the pancakes, adding the ingredients to the pan. Magnus filled the pancake before adding it to a plate and walking back over to Alec.

He placed the plate in front of Alec and walked back over to the coffee pot "So what have your got planned with your sister?" He poured the coffee into a large white mug, walking back over to Alec.

Alec gave a small smile before picking up the mug with his uninjured hand. "Think were all going out for a meal and then I might spend the day with her tomorrow" Magnus could see Alec was thinking over something in his head.

"Sounds lovely" Magnus walked over to grab himself some coffee, pouring it into his favourite mug.

"Yeah" His voice sounded hollow and empty.

Magnus momentarily stopped poring his coffee "That didn't sound very convincing?"

Magnus took a seat opposite Alec, he was picking at the blueberries in his pancake not looking up "No, I am excited to see my sister, I love her its just...My parents are coming as well" He sighed and took a small bite of the pancake.

Magnus took a small sip of his drink, the warm steam hitting his face "Oh, not excited to see them"

"More like the other way round" Alec used his hand to rub his left wrist, Magnus sat up in his chair feeling himself tense, a feeling of dread washed over him knowing he needed to talk to Alec about what he had discovered.

"There not excited to see you?" His voice was careful, looking at Alec's hand while it nervously rubbed his wrist.

He pulled his hand away and sat up in the chair bringing his hand up to run through his hand coming to rest on the back of his neck. "Its-its-"

"-Complicated" Alec took his hand off his neck, leaning forward on his chair. He crossed his arms and on the counter.

"Yeah, we don't really get along" Alec didn't like to think about his parents, he rested his head on his arms on the table.

"I can't imagine anymore not getting on with you Alexander" Magnus was smiling his large smile at Alec, a warm look on his face. It was odd. Alec had only known Magnus for a short time but he felt safe with him, like he wouldn't be judged. Alec was looking at Magnus while he drinking his coffee. The bright light from the kitchen making his eyes stand out, the worry he had seen earlier was still there, like he was thinking hard about something. Alec pulled his eyes away from Magnus looking back down at his hand. Alec suddenly became very aware of the fact that he still had blood on his sleeve and on his shirt. He quickly stood up from his chair.

"I should really get going, I've got some work to do before I meet my parents"

Magnus quickly chugged the rest of his coffee and stood up "Let me grab my coat and-"

Alec shook his head, "No, no its fine I can walk back, some air will help" Alec gave a forced smile, walking out of the kitchen, he needed to get out of these clothes.

"Do you know the way back?"

"Yeah i'll be fine, thanks Magnus" Alec called over his shoulder as he headed towards the door.

"Alec!" Alec stood in his tracks, slowly turning around. Magnus was rocking on his feet, twisting his rings nervously like he wanted to say something but didn't know how to! "If you ever need to talk about anything, feel free to call me or drop round, whenever" Alec looked at Magnus, he gave a little smile before turning around and leaving. As he left the building taking off in the direction he fault was the way back, his memory still a little blurry, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, opening his contact list. He scrolled down to 'M' He clicked the name.

 _11:47am: Thanks for fixing my hand, sorry for all the trouble p.s the pancakes were good - Alec_

His hand hovered over the send button before he hit it. He held the phone for a few more moment, as he was about to put it into his pocket it went off.

 _11:47am: Its okay Alexander, glad you enjoyed them I'll have to make you some proper food some time p.s I knew you kept my number ;) - Magnus_

Alec looked at the message before closing his phone and putting it back into his pocket. shoved his hands into his pocket and continued home.

Alec managed to find his way back to the apartment, it only taking him around 10 minutes. Alec walked towards the dorm room. He turned the handle and pushed open the door. Jace was sitting at his desk. His head quickly turned around and as soon as he saw Alec he jumped up rushing over to him.

"Alec!" Jace had a wide smile on his face.

"hey-" Jace pulled Alec in for a hug, Alec awkwardly just stood there. Jace pulled back, the smile still on his face. He looked down at Alec and his smile dropped.

"Holy shit what happened?" Alec followed Jace's eye line, a large red stain was in the middle of his denim shirt.

Alec walked pass Jace towards his cupboard "Oh it, it looks worse than it is trust me" He pulled open the doors and grabbed a baggy grey sweater with small holes littered across it. He also grabbed a pair of joggers.

"You scared the hell out of me man I thought you were attack or something!" Jace walked over to Alec, his face was filled with worry.

Alec felt bad, he didn't want to cause Jace to worry, he probably should of called Jace to tell him he wasn't coming back but Alec was in no condition to make any kind of call last night. "Yeah sorry, I didn't get a chance to ring I was pretty out of it"

Jace gave a small small "Its fine, I-I was just worried" He walked back over to his desk, flopping down into the chair. "So you excited to see your sister today?"

Alec took his phone out of hit pocket and throw it on the bed, it landing with a small thud. "Yeah, It will be good" Alec just kept focusing on the thought of Izzy, trying to ignore the thought of his parents "So how was the rest of the party?"

"Well after you took off it was kinda shit, I spent most of the night looking for you and then I cam back to our place but you weren't here and I kinda passed out" Jace was typing away on his computer.

Alec felt more guilt creep into his chest "Sorry"

Jace seemed to pick up on Alec deflated, turing around on his seat to look at Alec. "You don't have to apologies Alec, I was pretty tired and that Simon guy wouldn't stop talking so I didn't mind" Jace gave Alec a small smirk before turning back towards his screen.

It didn't do much to change the guilt in Alec's chest, picked off his clothes off the bed and made his way to the bathroom to get cleaned up "Well I'm going to get some work done before my sister turns up" Alec closed the door to the bathroom and walked in, placing his clothes on top of the toilet lid. Alec looked into the mirror; he was a mess. His shirt was covered in blood, his left sleeve getting the worse of it. Alec's face seemed sunken in, his face like chalk. Alec wanted to forget about the whole of last night, everything. Why did he agree to go to the stupid party, he knew it would end badly. Alec wrapped his hand around his bandage, rubbing the area where his wound was.

His parents were coming. Alec had been trying to push the thought out of his head but it kept forcing its way to the front. How would Alec explain his wound? He couldn't tell them he went to a party, 'Partying isn't the way to get results' his dad would say. Alec pushed down on his cut, a sharp pain went though his body. Alec relaxed slightly, the pain giving Alec a short escape from his problems. He knew this was a dangerous slop, he had stopped doing this months ago and promised Izzy he would never do it again. He gave another small squeeze. He was slipping and he knew it, this was how it started last time. He pulled his hand away and turned on the shower taking off his bloodied clothes. He wouldn't slip, if not for himself, but for Izzy.

Alec was holding two ties up against his white shirt, he hated wearing suits, they always made him feel false, like he was on show.

"Grey" Alec turned around to see Jace laid out on his bed reading some history text book.

"huh?"

"The grey tie, its goes better with the suit" Alec looked back into the mirror, he threw the blue tie on the bed and started to tie the grey one. Alec finished and looked in the mirror, he noticed that the white bandage had become even more red, he quickly looked away, he really needed to change it but didn't know if he could cope looking at the wound without spiraling into some form of panic attack. He looked back over at Jace.

"Hey do...do you think you could change the bandage...I...don't think I can do it" Alec felt like a child, he cringed. Jace looked up from his book and gave Alec a reassuring smile before moving off the bed into the bathroom. Alec waited before Jace came out with the rooms medical kit. Jace motioned with his head for Alec to sit on the bed, Alec did so. Jace sat next to Alec and opened the bag grabbing a antiseptic wipe and some more bandages. Jace was about to take Alec's hand when he stopped, he looked up at Alec. Alec gave a confused look before realising that he was asking permission to touch his hand. Alec give a little smile and nodded. Jace took Alec's hand and started to undone the bandage, Alec quickly looked away making sure he couldn't see the blood. He heard Jace swear under his breath as Alec felt a rush of air connect with his hand.

"This is going to sting" Alec bit the bottom of his lip anticipating the pain. A sharp stinging spread through his hand, he gripped the bed with his other hand "Sorry!" Alec gave a nod and Alec felt a bandage being wrapped around his hand. "All done" Alec looked back around, he gave Jace a quick smile and stood up from the bed.

"Thanks" He walked over to his bed and grabbed his black suit jacket slipping it on.

"I didn't picture you as a suit guy" Jace had laid back on the bed, picking is book back up.

"I'm not" Alec did the buttons up, he felt like he was being trapped.

Jace gave a small laugh "Why you wearing one then?"

"Because were going to some fancy restaurant" The displeasure was evident in Alec's voice, he hated fancy restaurant just as much as suits. It was all so fake and false.

"When I see my parents we usually go Applebee's" Jace gave another laugh like he was remembering something funny.

"My parents have a thing about going to posh restaurants, I've just learned to deal with it, its easier than arguing" It was true, Alec hated arguing with his parents, it was so exhausting and tiring.

"So-"

Before Jace could finish there was a pounding at the door, both boys looked around "ALEC! open up!" Izzy's voice filled the room, her knocking continuing.

Alec gave a large smile and walked over to door "Coming!" He reached for the handle and pulled open the door. Izzy crashed into his chest, her arms wrapping around his waist.

"Oh my god I've missed you!" Alec returned the hug, resting his chin on top of Izzy's head.

Izzy gave a final squeeze before pulling back, Alec gave her another smile "Its only been a week Izzy!"

"Yeah well still missed you!" She returned the smile and turned around, her long black hair swaying as she did. Izzy was dressed in a short black dress, one no doubt there parents disagreed with.

Izzy looked around the room before her eyes settled on Jace, she walked forward towards him "And who's this!"

Alec followed her forward "Oh Izzy this is my roommate Jace, Jace this is Izzy"

Jace stood up from the bed and walked to her "Nice to meet you Izzy" He gave her a kind smile.

She held out her hand to shake Jace's, she tilted her head and flashed her white teeth in her usual large smile "Nice to meet you too"

Alec leaned down towards Izzy, whispering in her ear "Don't even try it!"

Izzy pulled back with a loud laugh "What!"

Alec titled his head to the side, smiling also "You know what-"

"Alexander" Both Izzy and Alec stopped, turning around to see Maryse and Robert were stood in the door way. Robert was wearing a black suit, much like Alec's, his face was stern and tense. Maryse was stood behind him with a long black fitted dress, the top part had gold gems embedded on it that faded as they went down. Her hair was pulled back into a tight black bun, her posture tight and stern. Robert stepped around Maryse and came into the centre of the room, his hands held behind his back.

"Mother, Father I thought you were waiting in that car?" Izzy's voice was tense, she tired to inject some happiness into her words but they fell flat.

Robert didn't look at either of them, walking around the room "We wanted to come see how Alexander was settling in" We stepped over to Alec's desk, looking down at the books on the table "See if our money was being put to good use" Alec looked down at the floor.

"Alexander" Alec looked up to see his mother stood in front of him, he gave her a small smile and she kissed his cheek.

"What happened to your hand?" Alec looked back at his dad, he placed his hands behind his back.

"Oh my god" Izzy rushed over to Alec, her hands over her mouth "Alec wha-"

Alec shook his head "Its fine really, I...I cut it while playing basketball" Alec hoped his father bought his lie, knowing he would disapprove of him attending a party that didn't befit his job in some way.

"Shouldn't you be studying, I didn't pay for you to play games all day" His voice was bitter, no hint of emotion or compassion.

"Been keeping up with your work?" His dad going through his text book, flicking through the pages.

"Yes" Alec copied his fathers voice; firm and emotionless.

"Good" He placed the book down and picked up another one. "How many chapters ahead are you"

Alec looked over to Izzy before looking back down at the floor "Five"

"Thats great Alec" His mother gave him a reassuring smile.

Robert walked back over to Alec "Let make that ten" it wasn't a question.

"Of course" Alec suddenly realised that Jace was still in the room, he looked over to the boy that was looking partially nervous.

Alec stepped forward towards Jace "Oh this is Jace, my roommate" He gave Jace a nod, Jace looked at Alec before quickly stepping forward.

"Nice to meet you nice" Maryse gave Jace a warm smile shaking his hand, Jace turned to Alec's dad.

"Nice to meet you Mr Lightwood" Jace extended his hand towards Robert. Alec watched as his dad looked down at the hand, pausing before taking it.

The pair quickly shook hands before Robert pulled away. "What course are you taking?"

"Uhh um History" Jace gave his usual warm smile.

"Hm" Robert gave a displeasing smile and turned around walking towards Maryse. "We should be going now, cannot miss our table at Masa" With that Robert left the room down the hall.

"Again nice to meet you Jace, I'll see you downstair Alec" Maryse gave a finale smile before following Robert out of the room.

Almost simultaneously the siblings let out a large breath. Alec rubbed his face "Well that went well" His tone was bitter, why did his father have to be like that.

Izzy turned around and put her hand around Alec's "Its been a long trip up here just give them-"

"-Time?" Alec had given his father plenty of time and nothing had changed. He gave another large sigh "Lets just get this over with" "Let me just grab my keys and stuff, I'll meet you downstairs"

Izzy gave Alec another quick hug before turning around and leaving the room.

Alec looked over to Jace "Sorry about that" He walked over the his desk and grabbed his keys, shoving them into his pocket.

"That was...intense" Jace sunk down on his bed.

"Yep, thats father" Alec did a finale check in the mirror, making sure his tie was straight not wanting his father to be complaining about that as well.

"He was pretty harsh on you I mean, ten chapter ahead?" He saw Jace shake his head in the corner of his eye. Alec was use to it, his father also made sure he was ahead in classes telling him thats how you succeed. He took a large breath and started to walk towards the door.

"Good luck" Jace called out.

Alec closed the door to the apartment, he leaned against the door and closed his eyes. He knew this was going to be a long night, it always was with his parents but Alec didn't know how much he could handle after last night. Suddenly his phone lite up in his pocket. He pulled it out.

 _8:24pm: Hope you have a nice time with your parents tonight. Hope your hand is feeling better, think I would make quite the nurse ;) Feel free to call/drop by if you need to talk - Magnus"_

Alec looked down at the message, a small smile creeped across his face, he was still going out with his family, last night still happened but for some reason the thought of Magnus gave Alec a small but real feeling of joy, the feeling of safety returning to him.


End file.
